All That We Needed
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: All he wants is to be a wrestler, but with a family he has to think about, that dream may have to be put on hold...Trish/Christian...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and real people in this story. The WWE owns the characters and the real people own themselves.

* * *

**A/N: This is a new one from me. It's more Trish/Christian-centric than any of my other stories have been so I hope that you enjoy it. It's kind of AU, sort of, kind of, you'll see when you read it. Also, I have taken creative license with people's ages in this story so I hope that isn't too confusing. Please leave a review and let me know what you think, especially since I'm not used to writing this couple (as the main couple). If you want to be brutal, go right ahead. Enjoy. :)

* * *

They met when they were twelve.

They were having sex by the ripe old age of fifteen.

Predictably, they were pregnant by seventeen.

The wedding was before she started to show, so she could fit into her dress.

Inevitably, they were fighting by the time they were twenty.

He wanted to be a wrestler, she wanted to be something so much more than that. She didn't want to be a wrestler's wife, she didn't want to watch him leave for however many days in a row and talk to him over the phone. He wanted to live his dream, the dream he had had since she had met him. In those early days, when they would walk around town and talk, he would mention how much he wanted to be a wrestler and kick all the ass in the world.

She would laugh and tell him that was silly, that you couldn't be a wrestler because that wasn't like a real job. She thought it would just be a dream of a kid, but now, at twenty, with a two-year-old daughter, she found that the dream hadn't faded, but had grown stronger while she wasn't looking. So much so that he was looking into wrestling schools, willing to put their money, what little they had into it.

"Babe, I'm telling you, this'll pan out," he told her.

"No, it won't," she told him. "It's not going to, and you know it. I don't know why you think you have to quit your job for this."

"Because it's what I want to do!" he shouted at her, his breath coming out in heaves almost. "I've done everything that I'm supposed to do, but this is something that I _want_ to do. Won't you give me that?"

"We don't have any money!" she had yelled back at him, venom in her voice. "Jay, what do you think is going to happen to us if you take this chance and fail? We can't survive on nothing. I've got my job, whatever meager wages I can scrape, and with your job, we're barely scraping by. You can't quit."

"Babe, don't you understand, don't you get that I'm trying to better what we have right now," he said, looking around their dingy and small apartment. "I want to be able to provide for Sofia, and we're just barely doing that now, I want her to have everything."

"But you'll fail."

"Why don't you believe in me?"

She ran her hand over her face and sighed, "It's not that, Jay, it's not, okay, but we have a child to think about, we have a life to think about, and we can't just change everything on a whim. We have to think about Sof."

"I _am_ thinking about her, I know you don't believe that, but if I can make it, I can take care of everything for her. We'd never have to worry about anything again, I know that I can do this, if you would just believe in me."

She sighed, "I can't support this, Jay, I just can't, not at the expense of Sof, I just can't do it."

He ran a hand over his face, "But I _know_ that I can do this."

"I know that you _think _that you can, but Jay, we gave up everything when we had Sofia. This has to be about her. You think that this was what I wanted with my life? It wasn't, but I'm playing with the hand I was dealt."

"I have to do this, babe, I don't know what else to tell you."

"Then I'm going to leave you," she told him. He gasped a little bit, not expecting that. It wasn't like he expected her to just be gung-ho for this entire idea, but he thought that she would support him at least. He was going to do what he loved, and it would have the added benefit of helping his family.

"You're going to…what?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, but if this is what you want to do with your life, if you want to try this and…I can't do it, Jay, I can't be a part of it, I'm sorry. I have to think about Sofia and everything for me has to be about her."

"I'm doing this _for_ her!" he protested, "and for you too. I'm doing this for all of us. Aren't you tired of this? Of all of this," he said, gesturing around. "Aren't you tired of just getting by?"

"Of course I am," she said, sitting down on the couch, feeling suddenly heavy. "I want to give her everything too, but I need to do it in a practical way, Jay, I can't just…I can't just go out and do whatever I want to do. Do you think I like taking classes to be a dental assistant? I don't, but it's good money for Sofia."

"I'm doing the same thing."

"You're chasing after a dream that has high potential to fail!"

"No, I'm not! I can make it, I know I can!"

"Then I have to leave," she said, her eyes welling up with tears, which hurt him to see. He didn't want to make her cry. He hated when she cried because it usually meant that she was breaking inside. Before she had gotten pregnant, before their lives went all to hell, she never cried, she had never been weak, but now, every time he saw her cry, he couldn't help but think that she was breaking a little bit more on the inside, and he knew that a lot of that had to do with him. But he didn't want to give this one up.

"I don't want you to leave," he told her sadly, looking at her with those eyes.

She rubbed her hands together like she was cold and trying to warm them up. "I don't want you to do this."

"There's no changing my mind," he said resolutely. "I've been thinking about this for weeks, going over it in my head, and I know that this is what I want to do. We shouldn't have to sacrifice our dreams because of Sofia, we should include her in them."

"At the expense of everything, Jay?" she asked. "If it doesn't work out, we're what? Living on the streets? I don't want that, Jay, I just don't, so you go out and you do whatever you have to do, but you're going to have to do this without us."

"I thought you would support me in this," he said, his frustration starting to crack through. He wanted her support, he wanted her to be with him every step of the way.

"I can't do that, and please don't think I'm being a huge bitch in this, Jay, because I'm really not. I don't think that you should give up on your dreams, but I think they should be realistic. What are the honest chances that you'll make it, that you'll really make it to where we wouldn't have to worry about money at all?"

"They're slim," he admitted, "It _is_ hard, I'm not saying it isn't…"

"Then how do you expect me to support that when I'm so scared about our future. And what if you get hurt? Did you think about that? What if you get seriously injured and then I have to take care of you with no job skills or anything yet?"

He looked down, "That's a possibility."

"Then I cannot stay," she said. She stood up then, and she looked at him, her eyes equally as sad, "You have to see this from my perspective, Jay, and I just can't take that risk. You can go say goodbye to Sof, I'm going to pack some of our things."

"Where are you going to go?" he asked, worried that she didn't know where she was going.

"I'm just going to go home to my parent's house," she said with a deep sigh. He knew that she had a very strained relationship with her parents, as a direct result of getting pregnant at seventeen and deciding to marry him. If she was willing to go back there, to take that life, then…he knew that she was serious. Her parents would probably be jumping for joy that she had finally left his sorry ass.

"Your parent's…" his voice trailed off, and she knew what he meant by that.

"They'll take me in," she said dully. "I won't want to be there, but they'll take me in."

"Oh…"

He decided that there was nothing more he could do. If she was willing to go to her parent's house, that was it, she wasn't changing her mind. She was so damn stubborn too. Maybe if he went out there and showed her what he could do, that he could make it, she would change her mind. That's what he decided right then, he would show her that he was going to be something, and she'd come back to him. She would support him like he wanted her too. He pushed open the door to his daughter's bedroom.

"Hey Sophie Bear," he said to his daughter, who was sitting on the floor playing with some dolls. She looked up at him with that beautiful smile of hers, her blonde hair shining in the light. "What're you up to?"

"Playing," she said plainly as she went back to her dolls.

"You and Mommy are going to go out in a little bit."

"Where?" she asked curiously.

"To grandma and grandpa's house."

"Mommy's mommy and daddy?" she asked, "but they're mean."

"I know," he chuckled, "but, you should go visit them, because I know deep, deep, deep down that they love you very much," he finished, grabbing her around the middle and tickling her.

"Daddy!" she squealed, trying to squirm free from him. "Stop!"

He stopped and pulled her into his lap. "I'm not going to go with you, Sophie Bear. Daddy actually has to do some things, and you and Mommy are going to stay with her mommy and daddy. But you'll see me all the time, I promise you that."

"You come too, Daddy," she pleaded.

"I can't, Sophie Bear, but it'll be okay, I promise, and Daddies don't go back on their promises, not when they can help it."

"I no wanna go," she whined, leaning against him.

"I know, Sophie Bear, but it's only for a little while. You see, Daddy wants to be a wrestler, and Mommy doesn't want me to be one, and we're kind of arguing about that, but don't worry about it, okay, because it'll all work out in the end."

"Hey, Bunny."

"Hi Mommy, Daddy come with?"

"No, Bunny, I'm sorry," she said sympathetically. "Get all your dolls and stuff, and we'll go, okay?"

"Okay," Sofia said sadly, climbing off of her daddy's lap and going to gather her things.

He stands up quickly, turning to face her. His face has one last shred of desperation in it, silently begging her not to go. She doesn't look at him directly, instead goes straight for her daughter's small dresser, pulling open the drawers and pulling out clothes and other necessities for the little girl. He stands there, but he notices something, something that reassures him that she is feeling, that she feels _something_. Her hands are trembling…just a tiny bit, almost unnoticeable, but they're trembling, and he goes over and he places one his hands on her, steadying her.

"You're shaking," he said plainly, because she knew he knew.

"Eight years," she tells him, her voice close to sobbing. "We've been with each other for eight years, Jay, it's just…a world without you is kind of scary."

"It doesn't have to be this way," he reminds her.

"No, it doesn't, but you have dreams you need to chase, and I have a daughter that need s to be taken care of, that's the long and short of it," she said. "Chase your dream, Jay, and believe me, I hope to God you succeed, I really do, don't ever doubt that I want it all for you."

"I know." And somehow, he does know. Despite everything, she's always wanted the world for the two of them. She'd talk about it sometimes, as they'd fall asleep at night in the living room slash bedroom since they only had a one-bedroom apartment, as it was all they could afford. She'd talk about the dreams they had given up, and when they had first had Sofia, those dreams were still attainable. They could have a plan, she'd say, they could make it work. That light faded though, as a couple years passed, as their station in life never improved. But sometimes, on those rare occasions, she'd revisit their dreams, and she'd smile.

"I love you," he says, and he doesn't know if it'll be the last time he gets to say it to her, but he just needs her to know. Just one more time, just to let her know that even in spite of her getting pregnant, eventually, he would've caved and proposed, someday down the line.

"I know," she said, repeating what he had just said. "I love you too."

He wanted to kiss her, but he hesitated. But then he thought, if that's the last time you can tell her that you love her, then it might be the last time that you get to kiss her. So he leans in and he kisses her softly, not intrusive, totally innocent, but he kisses her, remembering her lips. He doesn't want her to leave, he really doesn't, but maybe this is what had to happen. The chances of them lasting were slim anyways, there were statistics and everything telling them they were going to fail, that they'd never amount to anything. He had never believed that until now, but they had gotten married before they knew what they wanted in life, and maybe this was just how it had always planned to be. A non-bitter ending to a non-bitter relationship.

"Come on Bunny, say goodbye to Daddy and we're going."

"Bye, Daddy!" she said, hugging his leg. He picked her up and gave her a proper hug.

"I love you Sophie Bear, I'll be seeing you soon, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," she said, then reached her arms for her mommy.

He followed them to the door, a couple duffel bags on her shoulders as she carried Sofia. She gave one last wistful look around the place. He hoped, deep inside, that she'd come back tomorrow, but for some reason, this all felt so final, like this was really, truly the end. She wasn't one to go back on decisions after she made them, and how could he convince her when she had seemingly already made up her mind.

"Goodbye, Jay."

"Goodbye, Trish."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews for this one. I know it's not really my norm to focus so much story on Trish and Christian (HaK notwithstanding) so I hope I'm doing it okay. Sometimes I find it so hard to write couples that are not Chris and Steph. As I mentioned in the last chapter, I fudged ages in this story to accommodate what I wanted to do. Just giving a heads up because I know things are going to sound screwy. I hope that you continue to review, they really help me. Enjoy, I hope. :)

* * *

Jay looked at the building in front of him. It didn't look any different from any other gym in any other city, but he felt himself intimidated by it all the same. This was what he had given up everything for, and he didn't even know if it was going to be worth it in the end. He had to believe it would though, because he had Sofia to think about, and everything had to be for her, for the past two years it had been all about her, and this was no exception. He needed to believe that this would work out.

He took a deep breath before walking inside and seeing some other guys milling about, some talking to each other, others concentrating by themselves, and still others listening to music on their Walk-mans, probably trying to get into the zone. He walked in a little further, finding an empty seat near a ring and he dumped his stuff onto it, standing around looking a little dumb.

"Hey, you joining today?"

Jay looked over to a guy chewing on some gum, his arms crossed in front of him. He looked nonchalant, but raised his eyebrow, waiting for an answer from him. He cleared his throat a little, "Uh, yeah, I am."

"Cool, cool, it's a good place," he said, looking around. "I didn't exactly train here myself, but it's a good place to learn the basics."

"Oh, so you've trained already?"

"Yeah, I help out here with the new recruits, its money, right, name's Irvine, Chris Irvine actually, and you're…"

"Jay, Jay Reso," he answered, shaking the man's hand.

"So what made you decide to be a wrestler?"

"I've just always wanted to try it, I've watched it on television since I was a little kid, and I really want to try my hand at it."

"Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I used to watch WWF all the time when I was younger, loved the hell out of it, and decided, you know, what the hell, I've got to try this. I trained in the Hart Dungeon."

"Wow, I've heard of that place, it's like legendary," Jay said, now being kind of in awe of this guy.

"And fucking tough as hell," Chris chuckled. "Once you've gone through that place, you can go through anywhere, but do you think you're ready for this? It's a life, man, that's all I can tell you. It's like, your girlfriend, your wife, and your worst enemy all wrapped up into one."

"How long have you been doing it?"

"Two months," Chris joked, and off of Jay's look, "I'm kidding, I've been doing it for three years now. It's hard, you really have to commit yourself to it, she's a harsh mistress…yeah, that was dumb, but it's a saying."

"Yeah, I'm ready though, I want it."

"Well, that's the first step. The second is actually training your ass so that you can get a job in this crazy business."

"Do you do a lot of work? I mean, wrestling and everything, do you go to a lot of show?" he asked.

"Yeah, I've done a lot, I do a lot of local stuff right now, but I've done work in the States, and I've gone overseas some, Japan, Mexico, picked up a lot of stuff over there, it helps to be well-rounded."

"So what kind of goals do you set for yourself in this kind of work?" Jay asked. He wanted to have goals, tangible goals to attain, because every goal he made would bring him that much closer to being able to provide everything he wanted for Sofia.

"Well, ultimately, I want to get into the WWF, and work there, you see something as a child, and you want that, you know, and I still want that."

"So they haven't come calling?"

"Well…there's an open-ended thing with them," he said evasively, his gum-chewing getting a little bit harder. Jay wanted to ask more, but it didn't seem like something the other man wanted to talk about it, and he didn't know him well enough to pry. "So yeah, there's that."

"At least you have an offer, right?" Jay said sheepishly.

"If you're good, I can hook you up with some good promotions, get you started," Chris said. "That is if you're any good."

"Well, I'm going to try my damnedest."

"Cool, good luck," Chris said, walking over to what looked to be the other trainers. Jay sat down putting his things on the floor.

"Okay everyone, let's take a seat!" a voice boomed. A tall, blond man sat next to him, and he looked over, giving a polite smile.

"Adam," he said, sticking his hand out to him.

"Jay," he said, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Adam told him. "I'm so ready for this, I'm going to kick so much ass, it won't even be funny."

Jay laughed, he liked this guy, so far, his experience here was on the positive side. That made him happy because it meant that he was that much closer to sticking around, and that much closer to providing for Sofia. They quieted down as the head trainer spoke to them and told them what was going to happen while they were here.

"We're going to be working your asses off, so you better be prepared. If you don't think that you can handle it, then get the hell out right now. Because we're going to pound you, but you chose to be here and you chose to pay. So come on, let's warm up."

They got into lines and went through a basic warm-up and then proceeded to go through a light cardio workout to get themselves going. Jay had no problem with this part of it, but this was not being in the ring. They were just going to go through some basics today, running the ropes and learning to fall. Chris was in the ring with another guy demonstrating the proper and improper ways to do it. Jay picked up on it pretty fast as it was pretty easy, but you wouldn't know that from some of the guys who couldn't get the hang of running the ropes, falling against them awkwardly.

They took a break about four hours in and Jay decided now was as good a time as any to check up on Sofia. He found a phone near the bathrooms in the back and he dug through his bag for enough money to call Trish's parent's house. He looked around furtively before calling, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He didn't plan to tell anyone about his past, or his current situation. It was none of their business anyways, and he preferred to keep the two separate.

He hadn't really spoken to Trish since she had left just a few days before. He would call to check on Sofia, but that's where the conversation ended. She hadn't brought up divorce with him, but he felt like it was the elephant in the room. They needed to talk about it sometime, but he didn't know when, and to be honest, he didn't want it to happen at all. He loved her, even now, and he didn't want her to disappear from her life.

"Hello?" someone answered.

"Hey, is Trish there?"

"Who's speaking?" Now Jay recognized the voice as Trish's younger sister, Melissa.

"Hey Melissa, it's Jay," he said, "Is Trish there?"

"Oh, hey," she said dully. "What are you doing calling here? My mom and dad said that you were out of Trish and Sophie's life."

"Well, they were wrong, can I just speak to Trish, please?"

"Fine, sure, hold on," Melissa said. Jay could hear her muffled yelling and he waited, having to put more money into the phone while doing so. "Here she is."

"Hello?"

"Hey, Trish, it's me."

"Hey," she said, "where are you?"

"Training, I had a free moment and I wanted to see how Sofia is. Can I talk to her?"

"She's taking her nap, Jay," she told him, "and I just got her down because she was being fussy all morning. So I can't wake her up right now."

"Oh," he said, bummed out that he couldn't talk to his daughter. He knew that he could make it through the rest of the day if he just got to hear his little girl call him Daddy. Instead, he got his estranged wife calling him…well, nothing actually. But it hurt all the same. "Can you tell her I said hi when she wakes up."

"I can do that," she said, then paused for a few moments, long enough for Jay to think that he had lost his connection to her, but then she spoke again. "So how's…your first day going?"

"Oh, well, it's easy so far, but we haven't done anything challenging yet, but I've made a couple of friends here already, there's some cool guys."

"Good, I'm glad it's going well for you," she said genuinely.

Jay was alerted that his time was running out, "Trish, I've got to go, I'm about to be cut off, but I'll call later to talk to Sophie."

"Okay…take care of yourself, okay, Jay-Bear?" she told him. "Don't get hurt on your first day, and don't break anything, and don't quit, because I want you to succeed if this is what you really want."

"Thanks."

"I do believe in you, Jay, I always did, I just can't…I can't risk anything regarding Sophie, I know you understand that."

"I know, babe, I've got to go, bye," he told her, but he really didn't want to stop talking to her. He just wanted to keep talking to her because she did afford him some support. He figured that through this whole process, he was going to need support. He could tell it was going to be difficult, not that he expected it to be a walk in the park, but this was different, he was actually here.

He walked back to where the guys were and saw Chris lounging in a chair, staring at the door. Jay needed a little advice and since Chris had been in the business, he figured he'd be the best guy to go to. He sat down next to him and Chris nodded before going to back to the door. Jay stared with him for a second, gathering up his courage to ask.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what is it? You were doing pretty good in the ring though, so you don't need tips."

"Not about that," Jay said, clearing his throat. "Relationships in the business, hard, not hard?"

"Definitely hard. Trust me, it's definitely hard, you hardly get to see the person, and it can cause fights. It's not an easy thing, like I said, the wrestling is really like your girlfriend at times. You've just got to balance everything, like, wrestling is my job, but I'm also taking courses at the University of Toronto, fallback, my girlfriend insisted that I have something to fall back on."

"So you do have a girlfriend, not wrestling I'm assuming."

"Nah, wrestling is cool and all, but it doesn't help on the long, lonely nights."

He laughed, "So balance is key?"

"Definitely."

"So what are you studying?"

"Journalism, I like to write," he shrugged, "I know, doesn't go with the whole mean, wrestling guy thing, but I like writing, and my girlfriend likes that I have a direction to go in. She believes in me though, another good thing to have…do you have anyone?"

He thought about telling him about Trish and Sofia, but he shook his head, "Nope. How long have you been with your girl?" he asked, diverting attention away from himself. This brought a small smile to Chris's face.

"A little more than a year," Chris said proudly. "She's…awesome. She's in the States though, Boston, she goes to Boston University, so I don't get to see her that often. She's…smart and beautiful."

Sounded like Trish, "She sounds nice."

"She's the best," he said, glancing at the clock, "and she should be here soon. She comes and visits on the weekends, but she didn't have classes today so she was flying in early for me. She's coming here to see me in action."

"So she really supports you and this whole thing?"

"Yeah, she does, she loves it," he said.

"Okay, guys, back to the ring!"

"That's you," Chris said, gesturing towards the ring. "I think you're doing more of the same, I know it's boring, but this is definitely something you're going to need. Oh, a little word of advice, you stick your butt out a little bit when you fall, try to correct that, we don't lead with our ass."

"Thanks," Jay said.

He went back to the grind and he was glad when he got little bits of praise from the trainers. Chris was leaning against the ropes talking with another trainer, but he was also watching and commenting. Jay was really getting the hang of it too, and Chris's advice had been sound. Next, they had to take falls from the ropes, and then after that, they were to grapple with each other to get a feel for it. All in all, Jay liked everything, but then, this wasn't hard, this was simply the basics. The first couple of times he took a fall from the top rope, it hurt, his body not accustomed to punishment like that, but after that, he started to get used to it, he started to get the technique down where it didn't hurt at all.

"You're doing well so far," Chris whispered to him as he waited to go again. "Just to let you know."

"Thanks," Jay said appreciatively. "I took your advice, so thanks to you too."

"It's my job, it's what I get paid for," Chris shrugged.

"Okay, guys, take a fiver," the head trainer, Alan, announced. "Get yourselves some water, keep hydrated because we're going to the weight room next, get you guys into real ring shape."

Chris climbed out of the ring with Jay next to him, "So you liking your first day?"

"Yeah, actually, I am, I really want this, there's just things that I think this career could do for me. I want to be the best I can be."

"Yeah, me too," he said as a girl walked inside, taking off her sunglasses, "hey, if you'll excuse me."

"Sure," Jay said.

He watched as Chris went over to the woman and lifted her up, actually spinning her around before setting her down on the ground and kissing her. Jay felt a small pang of jealousy rise up inside of him. He could almost picture Trish in this situation, proud and smiling, and all for him. He'd give anything to have Trish supporting his decision. He'd give anything to go home to his apartment tonight and have her be there to welcome him, and have Sofia running out to greet him, grabbing his hand to come play with her. But no, it wasn't to be, so he was stuck here feeling jealous of a guy he met this morning, a guy who didn't have a clue about his past.

"Who's the dope chick?" Adam asked.

"Chris's girlfriend."

"She's tight in all the right places," he said as Chris walked over with her.

"Hey guys, this is my girlfriend, Stephanie, Stephanie, these are some trainees, they're both pretty good, I see good things for them."

"What about you, good things for you too?"

"No," he told her sternly, giving her a mock dirty look.

Jay could see Adam practically drooling, but he hadn't wanted another woman since he met Trish, and he wasn't starting now. He missed her more in that moment then he had since the moment she left. He gave himself a new resolve. He wasn't just going to succeed for Sofia, and the benefit of providing for her, he was adding another person to that list. Yes, he had his steely resolve up now.

He was going to give Trish Reso the life that she deserved.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews. I hope I'm doing Trish and Christian justice with this story, if I'm not feel free to let me know. I hope that you enjoy the chapter and reviews are much loved and appreciated. :)

* * *

"So how long have you wanted to be a wrestler?"

"I don't know, a while I guess," Jay said, and he didn't know why he was a little uncomfortable with the brunette next to him, but he did. She had these eyes that he couldn't quite explain. They were blue some moments and then they were gray, but the most unnerving part was that they looked like they could see right through you, like she could see straight through into your soul, and that was bothering him.

"A while you guess?" she asked incredulously. "You know there are guys here that have wanted to be wrestlers for a really long time, and you seem...I don't know, undecided on the entire thing."

He was right, she could see right through people, "No, I want this, trust me, I really want this, I've given up a lot to be here."

"You have?" she inquired curiously.

"Yeah, I mean, you know, college and all of that."

"You really should go to college," Stephanie told him. She glanced over to Chris who was working with a small group of guys in the ring, grappling and what not. They had broken up into groups, and Jay's group had just gone and was now waiting their turn again, which wouldn't be for a while yet. "Chris was the same way that you were when I met him. He thought that this would sustain him forever, and while I definitely think it can, I wanted him to have something to fall back on. He's only going part-time, you know, a few classes, but it really helps towards the degree that he should get."

"So it's not a matter of not believing in him and his ability then?" he asked.

"Absolutely not, I met Chris at a show that he was doing and he immediately caught my eye," she said, smiling a small smile. "I want this for him, more than anything, but what happens when or if he wants to retire, or if he gets injured? I don't want him to be sitting there, with nothing to fall back on. There are a lot of older wrestlers who didn't take that advice and it's not pretty."

"But you still support him, it must be nice for him," he said, thinking to Trish, who didn't seem to want to support him in this. He wished that he had someone like Stephanie, who would support him and encourage him. "So if you met him at a show, then you must like wrestling then, you're a fan?"

Stephanie didn't tell people who she was, she just didn't, not until she trusted them. Chris didn't even know her last name until after their second date. She was wary of wrestlers, she had been since she had turned into a teenager and one of her father's creepy employees had hit on her. She knew that there were some of them who were perverts and disgusting, so she didn't like people knowing who she was. Chris hadn't really cared who she was, and it was only until recently that her family had even accepted him.

As for others, Chris's friends and what not, they still didn't know who she really was. She was just Stephanie, and she liked it that way. She nodded her head as she winced when one of the students was a little too rough with a move and Chris groaned as his back hit the mat. "Yeah, I'm a huge fan, I grew up loving it."

"You don't see too many girls with that stance."

"You don't see too many girls like me," she winked at him. "So what do you have to fall back on?"

"A high school education," he chuckled nervously.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty."

"Oh yeah, still plenty of time, Chris is twenty-three so you know, it's never too late, and you're like, what barely out of high school anyways, I'm twenty-one, I'll be getting my degree next year. Chris is already really excited, he's going to take me to Japan, granted he has shows booked for that time, he wants me to come along with him."

"Wow."

"Have something to fall back on Jay, it'll do you wonders," she told him seriously. "You seem like a nice guy."

"I like to think I am," he joked with her.

"So what's your story?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, like, you, who are you? Is it wrong to want to get to know you? Chris seems to like you, and he's a very good judge of character, so...while we're here..."

"I'm twenty, I've lived in Toronto my entire life, I've never been to the United States, and well...yeah..."

It wasn't that he didn't want to mention Trish and Sofia, it was just...complicated. At the moment, he didn't know where he stood with Trish, and he'd rather not reveal to this complete stranger that he was married and had a two-year-old daughter. One, it was none of her business, and two, he was just a smidgen embarrassed about it. He had been a teenage father, but the consequence of his stupidity came in the form of a beautiful, little girl.

He never regretted Sofia, because she lit up his day like the sun, but he was embarrassed that he had been one of "those guys," the guys who don't take precautions, the ones who end up knocking up their girlfriends and feeling totally out of place in the delivery room. The kind that get the looks from strangers who know, they just _know_ what you've done. He hated that look and if he could just keep that look at bay for right now, he'd be happy.

"Wow, exciting life you've had," Stephanie laughed a little.

"So, what the hell is your story?"

"Grew up in Connecticut, went to school, met Chris, and here I am," she said succinctly.

"Sounds like your life is just as exciting."

Her smile faltered just the littlest bit. "So do you have anyone supporting you? It's important. I know that Chris loves that he had someone to rant to. I think that's really important to wrestlers, having someone to rant to when times get tough."

"I'll get by," he said as his group was called up. "That's me, nice talking to you, Stephanie."

"You too, Jay, and good luck, Chris is tough," she said proudly as he climbed up into the ring.

Stephanie was right as he got into the ring with Chris. They were only doing basic moves, but Chris wasn't joking around. But none of the trainers did; they all obviously took their job very seriously and from the way they moved it was obvious that they wanted to relay that to their students. Chris and Jay locked up, and Jay went to try to get a chokehold on Chris, but Chris countered and swept his leg so he fell face first to the mat. Jay groaned a little, but Chris already had him turned over and was pulling him up to chop him to the chest, and it stung way more than Jay had been anticipating.

Before the mock match could escalate anymore, one of the trainers called out that that was a day, and Jay was surprised that it was already afternoon. The entire day had been a blur. Chris was speaking to the group, but Jay had tuned him out. He shook his head to listen in, "job today, guys, you all did pretty well, we'll see you all tomorrow."

Chris hopped out of the ring like it was nothing and Jay envied him as he rubbed his chest, which was still red from those chops that Chris had given him. It felt like his chest was on fire. He gingerly got out of the ring and went over to get his stuff. He was just putting his towel in his bag when someone slapped him on the shoulder. He looked up and saw Adam.

"Hey, some of the guys are going to go get some food and celebrate making it through day one, you in?"

"I don't know," Jay said. It was the middle of the afternoon, which meant that Sofia was up, and he kind of wanted to visit her, but it was important to make connections, so he figured that food wouldn't hurt. He was hungry after all.

"Come on, you have to, a lot of us are going, even some of the trainers, it'll be fun, there's a diner right around the corner."

"Okay, sure," Jay said.

"Awesome," Adam said as Jay grabbed and zipped up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

"So how brutal was that, man?"

"Pretty brutal," Jay said.

"Dude, Alan, that one trainer, he seems like he could beat the shit out of a whale if he wanted to, I've never seen a bigger neck on a dude before," Adam said. "Thank God he's not coming with us. He probably has some trees to pull out of the ground or something.

Jay laughed, "Yeah, he was pretty huge, but dude, my chest still stings from those chops that Chris gave me."

"Oh man, yeah, he did the same thing to me, if his hurt, what do Flair's feel like?"

"Ric Flair?"

"Yeah, I heard that he's rough," Adam said. "Can you imagine getting to wrestle someone like Ric Flair?"

"No, I can't, actually," Jay said, "that'd be pretty awesome though."

"Hell yeah it would," Adam said. "I'm going to get there someday, world champion, baby, that'll be me."

"Yeah, sure," Jay said.

"What, you think I can't? How much you want to bet?"

"Bet?"

"Yeah, I'll make you a little wager right now, if I get the world championship belt, in any of the major promotions, you owe me dinner, and if I never do, I'll take you out, it'll be a while from now, maybe, but come on, take it."

"Fine, sure," Jay said, shaking his hand.

"You're going to regret that because I'm going to buy the most expensive dinner I can think of," Adam joked, "because betting on myself is a sure thing."

"If you have a girlfriend, I feel sorry for her."

"Me? Girlfriend? No way!" Adam said vehemently. "Dude, don't you know anything about wrestling? We have groupies, man! And from what I've heard, hot ones, ones that will do your every whim! I mean, if you get the non-disgusting ones."

"Ring rats, you mean, I know about them."

"Not the rats, the groupies, the rats are heinous," Adam shuddered. "But the groupies are the ones that kind of stick around for awhile, you know, for the good stuff."

Jay saw Chris and Stephanie up ahead talking with some guys, "Do you think that's what Stephanie was? I heard that she and Chris met at a show, do you think she's a groupie?"

"Fuck no," Adam scoffed, "She doesn't go to a cheap school, and she can fly to Toronto whenever she wants to see her boyfriend, something tells me that she's not some groupie looking to score a wrestler for the money."

"Yeah, so...you're looking for a groupie?"

"Hell yeah, but I'd drop her before I made the big bucks," Adam laughed, then clapped him on the shoulder. "Tell me you're unattached because I am looking for a partner-in-crime, because ladies travel in packs, man."

"Uh...I don't know," he said.

"You don't know if you're unattached?" Adam asked, a little confused.

"No, I just don't know if this whole groupie/ring rat thing is a good idea, I mean, who knows what you can catch from them," Jay grimaced. "I think...I don't know, maybe I wouldn't want to do that."

"Don't be a prude."

If only Adam knew that he was anything but a prude and already had a kid. Suddenly, seeing Sofia was getting more and more appealing. Sure, making friends would be good, but she was his little girl, and she would put a bigger smile on his face than Adam asking him to be his wing-man would. But they were already throwing their things into their cars before walking over to this diner.

"Hey Jay, man, sorry if those chops were a little brutal, I'd been looking for some ring action all day," Chris said from up ahead, throwing his statement over his shoulder as he had his arm wrapped around Stephanie. "That's what I get for not booking any matches for a few weeks."

"Don't worry about it," Jay said as he and Adam caught up to them. "I figure that's only the tip of the iceberg."

"Yeah, it is," Chris said, pulling his sleeve up and showing them a scar that Jay hadn't noticed. "Had to have surgery about a year ago."

"Whoa!" Adam said, "what the hell did you do to him, Stephanie?"

Stephanie just rolled her eyes, as Chris answered, "Shooting Star Press went bad, fractured it, got a metal plate installed. As for this one," he said, gesturing to Stephanie, "she freaked the fuck out and almost broke up with me because she thought it was stupid of me to even try that move."

"Because it was stupid, you...ugh, I'm not even getting into it," Stephanie pouted as Chris kissed her cheek playfully.

"Is that the worst thing that's ever happened to you?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, I've been fortunate. I mean, there's the soreness, but I can deal with that," Chris shrugged. "That's just part of the business."

"Oh, yeah, of course," Jay said as they walked inside the eating establishment.

Twenty wannabe wrestlers, a few trainers, and Stephanie were a loud bunch as they grabbed a bite to eat. Jay tried to keep up with the conversation, but he found himself more and more distracted. Don't get him wrong, he really liked all the guys around him, but he had other things to think about. That's why he was grateful when they finished eating and paying, and were getting into their cars. Jay got into his beat-up old family sedan and drove the twenty minutes it took to Trish's parent's house.

It loomed large in front of him. He glanced to the driveway and thanked the man upstairs that both of her parent's cars were not in the driveway. Maybe they weren't even there and he wouldn't have to endure the stares that he always got from them. He knew those stares too, they were the stares of disgust towards him for stealing their daughter's bright future. Trish had been a straight-A student and on the pep squad. She was going to be a doctor, and he had derailed that. There weren't many jobs you could do with just a high school education, straight-A's or not. She had been offered scholarships, but with Sofia, she couldn't very well take them, she had decided stubbornly at the time. Now he wished she had taken them so she wouldn't be where she was at right now.

He rang the doorbell and shifted his weight as he waited for someone to answer the door. It ended up being her younger sister, Melissa, "Hey Jay, what's up?"

"Hey Lissy, is Trish around?"

"She's in the back with Sophie," she said opening the door to him.

"Are your parents here?"

"No, they're out, some fancy dinner thing they had to go to, they had to go to my dad's office first though, so, not here," she said, "you're lucky, I guess."

"I guess I am," he said. "So out back?"

"Yup, you know where it is," she said as she went back upstairs.

Jay headed through the house and out to the backyard where Trish and Sofia were sitting on the grass blowing bubbles together. He smiled as Trish blew some bubbles and Sofia poked at them with her small finger, giggling as they popped upon touch. Trish handed Sofia the wand and she clumsily tried to blow some bubbles, but she kept blowing raspberries and couldn't quite get it. Jay went to the sliding door and Sofia spotted him.

"Hi, Daddy!" she said brightly.

Trish's head turned sharply at Sofia's greeting and saw that Jay really was there, "Jay..."

"Hey," he nodded in greeting. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important."

"Bubble-blowing!" Sofia declared, but then dropped the wand altogether and raced for Jay. He caught her in his arms and lifted her easily into the air, throwing her a little as she squealed and reached her arms for him. She snuggled happily into his shirt and sighed, "Daddy..."

"Hey there, Sophie Bear," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"Hey Jay," Trish said politely as she came over to stand in front of him. "Done with training?"

"Yeah, for today."

"How did it go?"

"It was good, I met a lot of nice people there, I liked it," he admitted.

"Interesting, well, I'll give you some time with Sophie," Trish said, making a move to walk past him.

"Trish?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever...I mean, do you think that we...I don't know, I just...do you you think that things can get back to normal with us? Trish, it's not as bad as you think. Chris, one of the trainers, he's only been wrestling for three years, and he's getting really great offers already."

"Three years, Jay?" she sighed. "In three years, Sophie is going to be in school, real school, not preschool or anything. You'll be traveling doing whatever, I don't want to be the wife waiting for you at home while you're out there doing God knows what. Three years is a long time, Jay, a really long time to wait for a steady income that we really need if we want our daughter to want for nothing."

"Oh..."

"I'll be inside, what do you want for dinner, Bunny?"

"No know," Sofia shrugged.

"We'll figure something out, Mommy will ask Auntie Christy and Auntie Lissy."

"Okay!" Sofia exclaimed as she looked up at her daddy, "Daddy, play?"

"Yeah, sure Sophie Bear, I'll play with you."

They went back to the bubbles as Sofia made a grab for the now slightly dirty bubble wand. She handed it over to Jay and he took it, wiping it off on his shirt as he blew some bubbles for Sofia. She went back to popping them happily, and he laughed at the symbolism of the moment. He had had many dreams for him and Trish. He'd actually lay there at night and think about them. Of course, a lot of them had him as a rock star and she'd be a super model or something, but still, they were dreams. Dreams that were shattered like the bubbles before him, dreams that were shattered because she got pregnant. So what if he was trying to find a new dream, they'd spent so long trying to make it work, but now he had a different plan, and he was trying, he was trying so hard to make it work.

But like the bubbles, maybe they were all popping right in front of him.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the review guys, hope I'm doing Trish/Christian justice. Let me know how I'm doing, enjoy. :)

* * *

He watched as she daintily dipped her French fry into the ketchup on her plate. He had never realized before her that you could be dainty while doing something so…mundane, but Trish had always managed to do that. She defied everything he knew when she had waltzed right into his life. He remembered when he first saw her and thought she was the cutest girl he had ever seen. It had set his teenage hormones on high, and if you asked him now, he would tell you that was the pinnacle his puberty. From then on out, it had been her, and it had always been her.

"So why did you really bring me out, Jay?" Trish asked. "I know you said it was to get me away from Sofia, but there had to be more."

"How do you know that?" he asked defensively.

"Because I know _you_," she answered, tilting her head just the tiniest bit, and he had always found that endearing and now was no exception. "So what is it?"

"Well, I mean, we're…like not together right now," he said to her, "and it's weird, don't you think that it's weird after being together for so long?"

"It's an adjustment," she said noncommittally, not taking a side in all of this. If she was honest, yeah, it was hard being without Jay. He had always been there for her, and she would never forget how supportive he was during her pregnancy. Other guys would've just run, but not Jay, he had done the noble thing, even if it had cost him so much.

"Well, I figured that maybe, slowly, we can get back together, maybe…if we take it slow," he said, emphasizing the pace at which they could find each other again. He didn't want to scare her away, but maybe if the continued to spend time together, things would mend themselves.

She sighed though, and looked at him, "Jay, I'm just not sure about all of this, and it's not just the wrestling, but it's about us too. We've never gotten to live, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing, that we were together or whatever, but I'm just saying that right now, I think we both want different things out of our lives, and we might not…fit."

"How can you say that? After everything we've been through, you think we don't fit?" he asked incredulously.

"I've had a lot of time to think," she rationalized. "Being away from you, away from the situation has given me a new way to think about it. What I found was that…we were kids when we had Sofia, but we've grown up…a lot, and maybe grown-up Trish and grown-up Jay just aren't as good as kid Trish and kid Jay."

"People marry their childhood sweethearts all the time."

"Yeah, I know," she said, "Jay, I'm not saying we're bad together, I'm really not, please don't misunderstand me, I'm just saying that maybe time apart will give us what we're looking for, whether it be us or some other people."

"You…you're saying that you want to date…other people?"

"I don't know, I'm not really looking or anything," she said. "I think I want to take a break from guys actually, for a while at least."

He had never been more relieved to hear anything in his life. The thought of Trish with another guy was just too unbearable for him. She was the only girl he had ever slept with, and he just couldn't imagine letting another girl into his bed, ring-rat or not. Trish was the only woman that he had ever wanted to be with and he just couldn't fathom there being some other woman would come close to her.

"I don't want this to be over," Jay told her sadly.

"I love you, Jay," she said, reaching her hand across the table and taking his. Her hand always seemed so small in his, like he could engulf her or something. "Never doubt that, you gave me Sofia, and you gave me the courage to do a lot of things I never would've otherwise done, but we're twenty years old, we have so much ahead of us and I think we're both at the point where we want different things that have seemed out of our reach, but now seem real. You have your wrestling and I'm thinking about going pre-med."

"Pre-med?"

"I've always wanted to," she said.

"I just don't see how we can't go after what we want together," he said. "I've met a lot of great people in my training over the last month."

"I'm happy for you," she said genuinely. "It's good to branch out, I've met some great people at school, I really feel like I'm fitting in."

"That's great," he said, and he was happy for her too, because she deserved to talk to someone who wasn't two years old and obsessed with Sesame Street. "What I'm saying though is, well, my friend, he has a girlfriend, she's in college, in Boston of all places, and she's so supportive of him."

"What does that have to do with anything?" she wondered.

"She's supportive of him," he repeated. "They make it work, even long distance, even with all the traveling. I'm actually going to a show that he's performing in tomorrow night and I was wondering if you would go with me, maybe talk to her…"

"You want me to talk to a stranger?" Trish asked, her eyes widening as she pulled her hand away from his and brought it to her lap.

"She's not a stranger, her name is Stephanie, she's really nice, and she's really smart and she knows what she's talking about. She and Chris have been together for a year and they've made it work this entire time. They even met at a wrestling show, and maybe if you talk to her--"

"What, Jay? She's going to convince me to give you another chance?"

"I just thought that she might help you as a wrestler's wife, you know, how it's not so bad. She brought up a good point about every guy having a sounding board, and well, I was hoping that we'd be together, and you could be mine."

"So you want me to talk to a woman that I don't know at all about how to live my life?" Now she was starting to get testy and it wasn't quite going the way that he planned.

"Trish, no, I just wanted her to talk to you, as a friendly thing, I wasn't trying to make you like her or anything," he said, running a hand through the hair that had come loose from his ponytail. "But obviously you don't even want to give it a chance."

"Jay, tell me this, does this Stephanie woman have a child?"

"No…"

"Yeah, so she knows nothing of what I'm going through right now. What kind of income are you making right now, Jay?"

"Not a lot."

"Enough to?"

"Live cheap and go to wrestling school," he told her sheepishly, sinking down in his chair a little bit.

"And what about Sofia?"

"She's included in the living part, you know that I give money to her whenever I can," he snapped at her. "You know if I had to choose, everything I had would go to Sofia, but I'm trying to do all this for her anyways."

"But we're barely getting by right now, who cares about the future when you're living from paycheck to paycheck," she responded exasperatedly. "You don't get it, Jay. I have to worry about Sofia _right now_, not two years from now, four years from now. She needs new clothes now, or shoes now, winter is right around the corner, and she'll need a new coat, and food and all the necessities. My parents aren't going to let me stay at their house forever, they said they would like to have me out by the end of the year, so I'm scraping by barely too, trying to save enough to find somewhere to live."

"Come back with me."

"Don't you get that I can't? I don't know what I want right now, Jay, I'm sorry, but I don't. You've chosen this path and I can't support it because it's not supporting our daughter," she said, then took a deep breath. "Thank you for dinner, Jay, I'm going to head out now, here's enough for the tip. Come by and see Sofia." She took out a few bills and set it on the table. It wasn't until she had left did he notice that she had left enough to cover her meal too.

He didn't know why this gesture got to him, but it did. She had heard what he said, even if she didn't agree, and by secretly paying for her own meal, it was almost a little bit of support that he needed. She at least pitied him, or cared about him and so she had covered her part of the bill. He wished that she would just go and talk to Stephanie. Stephanie was a wrestler's girlfriend and though Trish was so much more, Stephanie had the same ideas.

What he didn't know was that Stephanie had a much, much different view of wrestling given the fact that she was practically a part of its living history, or she would be once she graduated from college. Jay was convinced that if someone could talk to Trish about wrestling and how it wasn't as bad as she thought that maybe she would come around on the whole idea.

Stephanie had both her hands on Chris's shoulders and she was jumping up and down in excitement, "I love to watch you wrestle!"

"I know this," Chris chuckled as he reached up to put his hands on hers, "but you need to stop jumping around, because seriously, I don't want the guys to think that I'm the one with the crazy girlfriend."

"I'm not crazy," she pouted as she stopped being jumpy. He turned in her arms and hugged her to him, "I'm not…"

"I know this," he said, kissing her forehead. "But I still don't want to be known as the guy with the crazy girlfriend. Are you going to enjoy it tonight?"

"Are you winning?"

"Can't tell you," he teased.

"Well then I don't know if I'm going to enjoy it. I'll be too busy filming it anyways," she said, patting the camera bag that he was holding right now, being the gentleman that he was and not letting his girlfriend hold anything.

"Well, if it's a good match, I want to add it to the list."

"Uh huh," she said knowingly.

"And you're not sending it to your dad," he chastised gently.

"And just why not?" she asked defiantly, sticking her chin up as she looked at him.

"Because I've told you a million times that when I feel like I'm ready to go into your dad's company, I _will_ go to your dad's company, it was an open-ended offer, wasn't it?" he asked rhetorically.

"Unless you break up with me, then your career is over," she joked, "because my dad will have you blacklisted."

"Thanks," he said sarcastically, "but there are no plans for that because…"

"You're going to marry me, yeah, yeah, I get it," she told him, kissing his chin. "You say all these things and yet…"

"Steph…"

"You're not marrying me until after I graduate, yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, I don't think it's going to happen."

"You have no faith in me, Stephanie McMahon."

"I guess I'm just not convinced," she said coyly and he nodded as he got closer and closer to her, pressing his lips against hers. She licked his bottom lip a little before deepening the kiss. When she pulled away she whispered, "I just don't see the harm in sending my father a tape to keep him updated on your work."

Chris groaned, "You never let up, do you?"

"Not if I can help it."

Chris looked over his shoulder and saw Jay and Adam walking up to him, "Hey guys, what took you so long?"

"Something's got him in the dumps," Adam said, jerking a finger towards Jay, who was walking a little hunched over and with his hands in his pockets. "He won't talk."

"What's up, man?"

"Nothing," Jay mumbled. He didn't want to discuss Trish. He had become good friends with these three people over the course of the last month or so, but he still had yet to tell any of them about his marital situation and his paternal situation. He just didn't feel the need to talk to them about when it was his problem and not theirs.

"Yeah, right," Chris said, rolling his eyes at Stephanie. They walked over to the stage entrance as Chris showed his pass and let the other three in. "So, you'll finally get to see what it's really all about."

"Thanks for inviting us, man," Adam said. "You didn't have to."

"It's nice to get some field experience," Chris said as Stephanie held onto his hand. Some of the people there knew who she was and gave her a nod and a hopeful look, like she was going to go running back to Daddy and tell him everything. She really didn't have as much say as people thought she did, but she hesitated to tell anyone that because then it would just get around that she was here.

"Yeah, so how many shows are you doing with this promotion?"

"I'm contracted for five," he said. "All until the end of training with you guys. Once I'm finished with that, it's off to Mexico for me for a couple months, and then I've got this thing lined up in Japan with my friend Lance."

"And as my graduation gift, right, Chris?"

"Yes, Steph, you're coming too," he groaned, rolling his eyes playfully as she slugged him in the stomach. "Hey, I've got a match, don't beat me up before I get beat up."

"Sorry," she said, rubbing his stomach comfortingly.

"Well, look around guys while I get ready," Chris said, "Everyone is pretty nice, sure you've got some asses, but for the most part, everyone is really cool."

"Thanks," Adam said, slugging Jay in the arm, "Come on, man, get out of this slump that you're in."

"Maybe he doesn't want to," Stephanie said as she stood there. Some workers came up and said hello to her and she was polite and said her greetings.

"You sure seem to know a lot of people, Steph," Adam said.

She shrugged nonchalantly, "I come with Chris to all of his shows, well, most of them, when I have the time to, I'm lucky right now that I can come. He likes me to film his matches. He adds them to tapes that he sometimes sends out."

"I don't get why a guy who has an offer from the WWF would settle for dinky promotions like this," Adam said.

"I don't get it either," Stephanie sighed, though she did get his reasons. "Jay, you okay?"

"Yeah, why don't we…find our seats, I mean, if you're filming Chris, then you must want to be close."

"We've got time," Stephanie said, checking her watch.

"This isn't exactly the biggest venue," he argued. He just wasn't in the mood to socialize right now, not after that disastrous meeting with Trish earlier. He was still licking his wounds from that one.

"You go ahead, Adam and I are just going to walk around," Stephanie told him. "You can save the seats maybe?"

"Yeah, sure."

Jay went out to the empty community center where the show was being held and grabbed some up close seats since it was a first-come, first-serve situation for the show. He sat there, staring at the ring and wondering if this was what he truly wanted. If he went back to school, worked part-time, Trish would probably come back to him because they'd have a steady income. Was all of _this_ worth breaking up his marriage and potentially losing his little girl?

He really wanted this though, but at the sacrifice of them, he wasn't so sure. And he had nobody to talk to about it. He was embarrassed by the situation he was in. He shouldn't be a married father, he knew that, but that was what he was, and sometimes, especially when he saw his new friends so carefree, he was ashamed of what he had let happen to him, but not ashamed enough to abandon his family. Maybe he should quit, maybe that was for the best.

But he still couldn't understand why Trish wouldn't give him a little support. It struck him even more later as he watched Stephanie cheer madly for Chris, all the while holding a camera up to her eye to film him. Here she was, helping Chris out with making tapes of his matches, and cheering for him at the same time like this was a WWF championship match and he was going to win the title. He was so envious in that moment. He wished he had that so much, and it seemed so close. He had Trish, he _had_ her, he just had to make her see that this was worth the risk and the sacrifice, that he would make all of this worth it.

That _he_ was worth it.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys, hope you like this chapter as well and leave a review if you want, thanks. And if you read HaK, an update is coming soon, sorry for not having it today. :)

* * *

"Did you think that Jay was distracted last night?"

Chris looked across the table at Stephanie, tilting his head a little as he regarded her. She took a sip of her soda and shrugged at him, "Excuse me?"

"Last night, at the show, do you think that Jay was distracted? I thought he seemed a little out of it, like he wasn't having a good time."

"Maybe he wasn't."

"Why wouldn't he be though? I mean, this is what he wants to do, he should really want to see how it all works," Stephanie said like that should be every wrestler's aspiration. She was so cute like that sometimes. Sometimes Chris thought she was too cute for her own good and that somewhere deep inside laid a horrible bitch. He kind of wanted to see that.

"Yeah, well, maybe he wasn't feeling well or something, and if anyone was distracted last night, it was me since I was the one actually wrestling," he said, then added, "and I'm definitely paying for it today."

"I told you that I would give you a massage before bed tonight," Stephanie told him. "You looked great out there though, I must say, it's no wonder you make such a great trainer, you have the 'it' quality, I can feel it."

"Thanks," he said with a smile. He was so happy to have Stephanie sometimes, or just a girlfriend in general really, but more specifically Stephanie. Not only did she support him whole-heartedly most of the time, but she also knew what the hell he was doing in the ring and could actually provide him with constructive criticism.

"I loved your moonsault."

"Lionsault," he corrected.

"Oh sorry, I keep forgetting that it's your signature move," Stephanie told him, "but the 360 splash, not sure if I liked you doing that."

"Is this Stephanie, my girlfriend, talking, or is this Stephanie, daughter of Vince McMahon talking?"

"Not your girlfriend, I don't know, you look really awkward doing it, and if you're going to get any bigger and not actually wrestle light-weight all the time, I think it'll become tougher for you to do, that's just based on where you want to go though, not that I'm telling you to take it out right now or anything, but keep that in mind."

"You're the best," he told her, grabbing her hand across the table and squeezing it before letting go. "So you thought that Jay was distracted?"

"Yeah, I mean, we're not close friends, I've only known him for a short time, but I don't know…with Adam, it's like he lays everything out there. He knows what he's doing, he says what he wants to become, and he seems like he wants to grab it, he also talks too much about the women that he wants to sleep with, but that's another story for another day…but with Jay, it's hard to get a read on him."

"I've noticed that too," Chris said. "Just that sometimes he has to be brought out of a trance or something."

"Really? When you're training? That's dangerous."

"No, when he's wrestling, he's always all there, but sometimes, I just catch him zoning out and you kind of wonder where his head is at."

"Do you think that he honestly has what it takes to make it?"

"He's got the talent, definitely, and he's got charisma somewhere in there, I'm sure of it, but he doesn't seem to want to concentrate and that's a problem."

"Do you think that he's on drugs?" Stephanie asked innocently, her eyes widening at the notion. Stephanie had grown up very sheltered. College had been an awakening for her of sorts, opening up this crazy world. Her parents had spent the better part of her childhood protecting her from the harshness of the business, but Chris had told her all about it, and her brother too, so she knew what happened back there.

"Nah, he doesn't look it," Chris answered, shaking his head. "If he were on drugs, I think that we'd know it."

"Okay, good, because that would be really bad, and I wouldn't want that to happen, he's a good guy. Maybe he has something in his past that makes him so withdrawn."

"What? Are you going to go snooping now?"

"Well, with my father who he is, he can pretty much get a background check on every wrestling or wannabe wrestler on the planet."

"Nice flaunting," Chris teased.

"I'm not flaunting!" Stephanie protested, folding her arms in front of her. "I'm just saying that if we wanted to know what Jay was up to, or who he was before he went into training, I can find that out in no time flat."

"Don't do that, if he has shit in his background, it's none of our business what it is. If he wants to tell us, then he'll tell us. I consider him a friend and you don't do that to your friends," Chris said, and Stephanie had to admire his loyalty, even if she was curious about what Jay was all about.

"Fine, but only because you're right and you don't do that to friends," she said.

"Hey, do you think that maybe you can get your dad to come scout our training, just to get a gauge on these guys because I see some potential in them, and well, if I can help them out in any way."

"Oh, so now that my parents accept you as my boyfriend, you think that you can just use favors, huh?" she joked. "Well, nice to know you were willing to wait it out for so long just so that you could get your favors in."

"Very funny," he deadpanned, "but I'm serious, I think that some of these guys could really make it somewhere."

"I'll see what I can do," Stephanie said. "I make no promises because my father is really busy, but I will definitely tell him."

"You're the best, McMahon."

"I know," she said, rolling her eyes, "just don't ever forget it."

--

Sometimes Jay's life felt funny to him.

Here he was, twenty years old, an immeasurable amount of days ahead of him, a whole future, and he was so different from everyone that he knew. The guys he wrestled with, nothing phased them, they went about their daily business and thought that responsibility would never sneak up on them. For Jay, responsibility followed him around everywhere. Maybe that's why he had such a hard time loosening up, or maybe it was because everything that he thought he knew in his life was falling to pieces.

"Daddy, slide," Sofia said as she tugged at his pants.

"Okay, we can go on the slide, do you want to do it by yourself or do you need help?" he asked as they walked over to the slide in the park they were in that afternoon..

"No help," she pouted, wanting to do everything by herself.

"Okay, Sophie Bear, I was just asking," he said as she started to climb up the little ladder leading to the top of the slide. Jay stood behind her and watched her as she pulled herself up slowly. He kept wanting to help her, but she would probably just yell at him if he did so he let her do it by herself, no matter how long it took. When she got to the top, Jay tapped her on the shoulder. "Wait for me, okay, I'm going to go to the other side."

"Okay, Daddy," she said as she sat there patiently with her hands in her lap.

Jay walked around and stood at the bottom of the slide and then looked up at her, "Okay, Sophie Bear, ready?"

"Yeah!" she said, pushing herself off and down the slide, giggling the entire way, her blonde hair flowing behind her in the wind.

"Was that fun, Sophie Bear?"

"Yup," she nodded, lifting her arms up to Jay. "Again!"

"You want to go again?"

"Yeah," she exclaimed, pointing to the ladder again.

"Okay, one more time, then maybe some lunch?"

"Okay," she agreed, squirming in his arms. He set her down and she ran to the ladder again, not even waiting for him before climbing up again. He shook his head, she was so fiercely independent sometimes, just like Trish was. It was that independence that was hurting him right now. She still failed to see that this could be a team effort, him breaking into the business, instead of a sole effort. She was his wife, and in spite of everything, and the path they took to get where they were, he loved her.

He went around the slide again to grab Sofia as she slid down again, another elated giggle escaping her lips. As he lifted her up, he saw Trish walking over to them and he held Sofia closer. He didn't want to give her up to Trish right now, but she was getting closer and closer. She gave him a tentative smile as she stopped.

"Mommy, I slid," Sofia informed her as she came over.

"Wow, sounds like a lot of fun, Bunny," Trish said. "Hey Jay."

"Hey, I didn't think that you'd be here to take her so soon," he said, clinging to Sofia a little bit harder.

"Yeah, I was thinking, I haven't been too fair, maybe you should take her for the night, if you want to that is. I figured, I've been taking up all her time, so maybe you would want to spend time with her too."

"Wow, really?" He didn't know why Trish wouldn't let him spend time with his own daughter, but her asking if he wanted to take Sofia for the night honestly surprised him, like Trish was slowly trying to take away his daughter from her, but that was preposterous, he had been nothing but a good father to her, and Trish would always appreciate that fact.

"Yeah, if you want to, that is."

"I'd love to, what do you think, Sophie Bear?" Jay asked of his daughter. "Do you want to spend the night at home with me?"

"Uh huh," she nodded seriously.

"I'd love to have her," Jay said to Trish. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it, besides, I've actually got a study group tonight, so one of my sisters would be baby-sitting, and I thought you'd rather have her," she explained.

"I would, thanks again," he told her.

"I know you have some of her things in the apartment so you probably don't need anything, right?"

"Yeah, I've got everything I need for her," he told her. She nodded, and the awkwardness settled over them like a fog. Trish shifted on her feet a little bit, not knowing what else to say, but not necessarily wanting to leave just yet. Jay wasn't the only one feeling a sense of loss. It was hard for Trish too because she missed Jay just as much, but this was a situation that she didn't see a resolution to any time soon. They were in the middle of a huge disagreement and she couldn't just let this go.

Letting it go would be like…allowing him to run off and leave them. It was more than just wanting to wrestle, it was what came along with that. Trish wasn't stupid; she had watched wrestling enough to know what it was all about. She had heard about all the things that went on backstage, the cheating, the drugs, everything, she had heard of it all, and she didn't want to be the unsuspecting wife not knowing what was going on with her husband. It wasn't that she didn't trust Jay, she just didn't trust the lure of the business, which was an entirely different thing.

"Well, I guess…that's all I wanted to come here to tell you," she said, already taking a half-step backwards. "If you need…anything, you know where to get a hold of me."

"Yeah," he nodded, not wanting her to leave, but not knowing how to express that to her.

"Bye, Sophie Bear," Trish said, leaning forward to kiss her daughter on the cheek. "You be good for Daddy, you hear me?"

"Okay," she answered with a smile.

"Bye, Jay."

"Later, Trish."

Jay and Sofia spent a little while longer at the park before they headed back to the apartment. Sofia was pretty exhausted by this time, so Jay took her to her room and set her in her bed to take a nap, and she was out only a few minutes later. He went out into the common area and sat down on the sofa to watch some television. The phone rang a second later and he lunged for it, not wanting the ringing to wake up Sofia.

"Hello?"

"Hey, man, it's Adam, what're you doing right this second?"

"Uh, nothing."

"What are you doing tonight?" he asked.

"Staying in, probably," Jay answered, "Where is this going?"

"You and me, tonight, I found this great club and so a night of babes and booze is in order, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I'll pass," he said, thinking about Sofia and not wanting to leave her since he got to see her so little now.

"What! No way, dude, there's no way that you pass up on this, none," Adam said. "Where do you live, I'm coming over, we're getting you dressed, and you are coming out tonight. You're too wound up, dude, you need to let loose, get laid and what better way than going out with the coolest dude this side of Canada?"

"Yeah, I'll still pass, I just realized I am busy tonight."

"Too busy to have fun?"

"I just have to do something, that's all."

"You never want to go out, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I just have a lot of things that I do outside of wrestling that require my time," Jay said, sighing. It wasn't that he didn't want to go out, but he knew where he needed to be, and that was with his daughter.

"Like what? Do you have a girl?"

"Uh, in a way," he said, evading the question.

"In a way? What kind of answer is that, unless you and said girl just have sex or something, no strings attached, in which case, awesome, dude, awesome," Adam said lecherously.

"It's complicated, just…leave it alone, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever man, have fun fucking your lady."

"Yeah, whatever," Jay said, saying his goodbyes. If this were a perfect world, Trish _would_ be by his side, and he'd be happy, and getting laid like he used to be, and he wouldn't be in this eternal funk that seemed to crowd into his body at every moment.

But this wasn't a perfect world.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, hope you enjoy the chapter and if you feel so inclined a review would be great. Also, if you're a Chris/Steph fan, I put up a couple videos of them on my site, the link of which you can find on my profile. :)

* * *

"Dad, I was wondering if I could set up an appointment with you?"

"You want an appointment with me?" Vince asked incredulously. "I know that I haven't always been the most hands-on father, Stephanie, but I wasn't aware that we were at the point where you needed to schedule appointments with me."

"I didn't know if you were busy or not," Stephanie said, "I just wanted to make sure that I was able to get time with you while I was home."

"And you couldn't discuss this over dinner when I do come home?" he asked.

"I'd just much rather do it in an office-type setting, Dad, because it's not something that I just want to casually bring up because I'm being very serious right now," Stephanie informed him. "So would it be okay if I were to come down to Titan and have a meeting with you, are you free?"

"Yes, I'm free until two o'clock, so if you want to come meet with me, I suggest you get down here right now," he said, trying to hide the trepidation in his voice. He couldn't imagine what could be so serious that it warranted an actual meeting.

"I'll be there soon," Stephanie said before hanging up the phone.

She was there soon, too, entering the lobby of her father's floor, and politely saying hello to his long-time secretary before entering the office. Vince took off his glasses as he saw her and gave her a warm smile, which she returned as she sat on the seat across from him. Briefly, he remembered her as a small child, all gangly legs and arms, kneeling on the desk, wondering what he was doing every second of every day.

"So what is this in regards to?" Vince asked, looking at her critically.

"Well, Dad, I just needed to be serious right now and I wanted to speak directly to you."

"You're pregnant," he said. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch!"

"Dad, no, oh my God," she said, making a face, "No, I'm not…how…why is that the first thing that comes to your mind when I say that I need to speak with you about something? Do you ask Shane that when he has something he needs to discuss with you?"

"So you're not pregnant?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "No way, I'm not pregnant, Dad, there's no possible way that I can be pregnant, _no_ possibly way." She knew that she was implying that she was a virgin, but she didn't want her father to think she was sexually active, which she was. There were lines. "I'm insulted that you would think that, Dad, seriously."

"I'm sorry, I just heard serious and I overreacted, I'm sorry," he apologized. "So what is it then? You're not on drugs are you?"

"Dad, stop, I'm serious, it's nothing like that, I just wanted to approach this in a business-like manner because it's about the business in which you work. That's it; I just wanted to discuss business with you in a business atmosphere."

"Oh, is that all?" he said, visibly relaxing.

"Yes, I wanted to bring something up to you."

"What is it? I told you that you cannot come on the road until you graduate and I haven't bent on that promise."

"I know, what I'm asking is kind of on Chris's behalf."

"He's using you, isn't he?"

"No, he's not, this isn't using, not by a long-shot. Look, Chris is a trainer right now for a wrestling school up in Toronto, you know where he's going to school and getting his degree," she reminded her father. He had actually been impressed by that fact when he found out that Chris was going to school. "Anyways, he's a trainer and he asked if I would ask you if you would scout the training sessions, or at least send someone else. He sees a lot of potential there and he wanted to see if he could help them out."

"So this isn't for him?"

"No, it's not," she explained. "He just wants to help these guys realize their dreams, and I think that's really noble of him, don't you think so?"

"Stephanie, I already accepted that he was your boyfriend, and I'm okay with that, you don't have to keep shoving how great he is down my throat, I understand that you love him," Vince said begrudgingly, but then got his opinions in, "Even though I didn't want you to end up with a wrestler. Stephanie, why couldn't you have met someone at school?"

"I did, he was boring, end of story," Stephanie said. "I love Chris, that's it."

"Okay, I know, but he thinks he can see potential?"

"Yes, I even brought a tape with me," she said, rooting through her purse. "Chris had me tape some of the sessions that he had with the guys that he's teaching, and I brought them so that you could see them and if you see something you like, maybe you can come visit and scout for new talent, I know how you like to evaluate guys yourself."

"You've both really thought this through," Vince said, quite impressed by both his daughter and her boyfriend. He knew that upon graduation, Stephanie was going to enter the business, and he was starting to see that spark that he had seen in Shane after he had graduated.

"We have, Dad, and if you see someone you like, well, then you get to have them before WCW, so there's another plus."

"That _is_ a plus," Vince said, rubbing his chin. "Let me see the tape."

Stephanie smiled and got up to stick the tape in the VCR, pushing play. The first thing that flashed on the screen was Chris and Stephanie's faces smashed into the camera view, both of them saying the date in tandem before Stephanie disappeared behind the camera as Chris went up to the ring. Stephanie had sat there and filmed the entire thing, zooming in and out at various times to really capture the action.

"I like this guy a lot right here," Stephanie said, referring to Adam. "You can't tell from this, but he has a lot of charisma, I think he'd be great at doing promos."

"What about his in-ring style?"

"He's not a high-flyer, but I think he has the potential to be," Stephanie told her father. "He's not completely mat-based, so he's more of a hybrid." Stephanie was always happy when her father sought out her opinion; it made her feel like he actually cared about what she thought and that was a good feeling for her, especially since she was going to end up here very soon.

"I do like his look," Vince said. "And what's his name?"

"Adam Copeland."

"Oh, that'll have to change," Vince said. "I want to see more of him, definitely, you can turn this off, I'll come see this place. We've got a show near Toronto in about a week, so I can come then."

"Great," Stephanie said enthusiastically. "And Daddy, when you do get there, please don't refer to me as your daughter or as Stephanie McMahon. You know that I don't like people not in the company to know that information."

"Of course, I don't want people using you for your name," he told her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, Dad."

"So I talked to my dad earlier about coming to see some of your classes, but guess what the first thing he told me was?"

"Um…that I'm the scum of the Earth and he wishes that you had never met me?"

"Chris, you know he likes you," Stephanie said.

"Stephanie…"

"He tolerates you, and yes, he's probably cursing the fact that he brought me along to that event," Stephanie laughed. "But no, he thought I was pregnant."

"He thought you were _what_!"

"You heard me," she said, scoffing a little bit. "I don't even know what goes through his mind sometimes. I pretty much implied to him that I was a virgin so there's no possible way that I could be pregnant."

"You implied you were a virgin?" he laughed.

"Hey, don't laugh," she chastised him, "you're my first so it's not like I'm sexually experienced, just not a virgin. I don't want my parents to even know I have sex, I could have kids later on in life and I still don't want them thinking I have sex. I'd much rather let them think it's an immaculate conception."

Chris laughed, "Your father would hate me if I got you pregnant."

"He'd never hire you, that's for sure," she told him, "but I showed him a tape and he's willing to come check it out."

"Awesome," Chris said enthusiastically. "I'm definitely going to call him to thank him."

"You don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do, I mean, I consider this a personal favor to me," Chris told her. "I'm glad he's going to come though, I really think he'll be pleased with the talent of the guys we have."

"Yeah, he really liked Adam from what we watched together," she told him. "But we'll definitely be there next week. So let the guys know and we'll see you in a week."

"I can't wait."

"I also can't stay with you, you do realize that right, it would definitely go against the whole virgin thing if I were to spend the night in your apartment."

"You can always sneak over," he suggested.

"And how old am I again? Fifteen? Sneaking out of places, you'll just have to do without me for a day," she said. "He's only staying a day, but I can stay the entire weekend, so it's just one night."

"But you keep me warm," he jokingly whined.

"Oh get over it, Irvine, I'll see you in a week."

Jay took a deep breath. Today was an important day. Vince McMahon was going to come to their facility and watch them work out. It was a little nerve-racking thinking that one of the biggest, if not _the _biggest, man in all of professional wrestling was going to be here to watch them train. This could be a huge break for him. If he could impress the man, then maybe things would be set in motion and Trish would come back to him.

Jay had heard that Chris was the one to get Vince to come and he had to wonder how the hell he had managed to do that. He wasn't aware of any friendship between Vince and Chris, but obviously they had some sort of rapport, which was kind of crazy. It was kind of cool to know someone who knew Vince McMahon.

Chris was leaning outside the building as he saw the limo pull up. He rolled his eyes a little. Stephanie could be so spoiled sometimes, he knew from personal experience, and this was just fostering the image. Vince stepped out of the limo first and Stephanie followed, Vince holding the door for her. She looked around and saw that Chris was the only one outside and she smiled, glad that nobody saw her with her father.

She ran up to Chris and hugged him tightly, kissing him soundly. "Hey."

"Hey, you're here," he said, hugging her back. "I missed you."

"Me too."

"Chris," Vince said politely.

"Hello, Vince," Chris said, remembering that Vince had told him to call him by his first name and to stop calling him Mr. McMahon.

"Have you thought anymore about coming to the WWF? Because I really think that we could find a place for you," Vince said, making small talk with her daughter's boyfriend. It wasn't that he didn't like Chris, he really did, he just wasn't sure if he could trust the man around his daughter. But he would be wary of any man dating his daughter, wrestler or not.

"I really do thank you for the offer, Vince, but I just feel like there's places I need to go to get better first."

"Okay, suit yourself. Shall we?" Vince said, gesturing to the inside.

"We shall," Stephanie said. "But you go ahead first, Dad, I just want to talk to Chris."

"You mean make out with Chris, I'm not stupid, Stephanie."

"Dad," Stephanie said, blushing as Chris chuckled.

Vince walked inside and everyone seemed to hold their breaths. Jay could feel his heart pounding as he tried to focus on just warming up like they were all doing right now. He tried to clam his breathing, but it was hard when his potential meal ticket had just walked into the building. He was going to make the most of this opportunity.

It was time to perform.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, appreciate them and hope they continue. This chapter takes a bit of a step away from Jay and focuses on another subplot. Hope you enjoy. :)

* * *

"So what did you think, Vince?"

"I see some definite potential here," Vince said, nodding his head. "You're doing a good job training these guys."

"Well, it's not just me," Chris said. "I thought it just might be a good opportunity for them to get some actual, you know, having someone evaluate their progress. Thanks for coming again, I know that this counts as a personal favor, and I will repay you for it."

"Don't worry about it," Vince said, waving him off. "You don't need to repay me, this is business-related and I appreciate the fact that you're trying to help these guys."

"Okay," Chris said, looking down and then over at Stephanie who was beaming at him. She was just so proud of how he handled himself a lot of the time. He wasn't exactly an anomaly to wrestling because there were a lot of nice guys in wrestling, but none of them were as level-headed as Chris was about everything. She knew a part of this was to try and impress her father, but still, in everyday situations, he was the same way. "But I still want you to allow me to pay for dinner."

"I won't hear of it," Vince told him.

"Vince, please," Chris said to him. "I'd really like if I you would let me pay for dinner this one time, you never let me, and I do consider you coming here a personal favor to me, so if you'd just allow me to."

"Dad, just let him pay," Stephanie said. "He's trying to do a nice gesture."

"Well, I can safely say you're the first of Stephanie's boyfriends who ever offered to pay for dinner," Vince chuckled. "So that definitely makes you stand out from the crowd."

"Wow, lame, Stephanie, really lame," Chris said, shaking his head. "I can't believe you dated such losers before me."

"Shut up," Stephanie told him, sticking her tongue out at him. "So Dad, was there anyone in particular that you liked today? Like, did anyone you saw stand out?"

"Well, I definitely had my eye on that Edge kid," Vince said. "I really liked his look, I think we could work something with him. He seemed to also have a great deal of charisma when I was speaking to him. I also like that kid…uh…Josh, yeah, that was his name, he's got the physique that I think is just right." Stephanie looked over at Chris, who rolled his eyes. Josh was about 6'5 and very muscular. She gave him a small smile in return. "Oh, and that one…with the long hair, Jay…he's got potential, I'm not seeing so much actual prowess right now, but he has definitely got talent, I can see that. He's a little on the small side."

"Dad, just because someone isn't really big and tall doesn't mean they aren't good," Stephanie reminded him. "Chris isn't big."

"Hey," Chris said, offended by Stephanie.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way. You're just not one of those big, lunk-headed guys who are all muscle-bound and _gross_," she told him.

"Oh, so now you're saying I'm scrawny?" he teased playfully.

"No!" she argued. "You're great, you've got a lot of talent, my dad obviously wants you to join the WWF, don't you, Dad?"

"Well, if he would consider it."

"Vince, I told you, I appreciate the offer, but I want to do this in my own way, not because I met Stephanie and started dating her. It's just not fair for any of your other employees and it's not fair to me, and it's especially not fair to Stephanie because I'm not going to make her feel used like that."

"I don't feel used," Stephanie interjected.

"Steph, I'm trying to make a point," he said with a huff and she kissed his cheek.

Vince observed them carefully. They seemed to be falling quite deep with each other. He knew they had been dating for quite some time now and Chris had been welcomed into his family, but he was still a little wary about their relationship and how far it was going to go. He knew what the business was like, and he had hoped that Stephanie wouldn't get sucked into it personally. He absolutely wanted her to work for the company, it was in her name after all, but he had wanted something else for her in her personal life. The wrestling industry was filled with infidelities, drugs, alcohol, and a lot of shit that he didn't want Stephanie around. He couldn't stop her from falling for Chris, and though he seemed different from any other guy Stephanie had dated _and_ any of his other employees that he knew well, there was still that potential of heartbreak heading in his daughter's direction.

"Okay, your point is made then," she said. "You're never going to join the WWF because you are going to always believe that you only made it in because you're with me."

"That's not the entire reason," Chris said. "I just want to travel. Find new styles, be the best I can be."

"Well, you're already great, isn't he, Dad?"

"You're great, Chris," he indulged. He also knew that his daughter was going to be going to Japan with Chris after she graduated from college and he thought that was going to be a nice trip for the both of them, but they were becoming so close. He saw the potential here for the future, and he knew that this could very well be the last man that his daughter ever dated. It scared the hell out of him.

"See, he thinks you're great."

"Well, if I were to join with your dad right now, I might not be able to take you to Japan for your graduation present…"

"Okay, so you don't have to join up with him right now," she said with a bright smile. "I really, really want to go with you. I want to see what these Japan crowds are like when you're right there. I promise not to cheer for you, but clap politely when you do something well."

"Good, you're already getting the hang of it," he told her, kissing her temple as she gave him a soft look filled with only one emotion. He grabbed her hand on the table, and yeah, Vince was wondering just how much in love these two were. He just needed an opportunity…

It came a few moments later, "I'm going to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back." Stephanie got up from the table and headed for the ladies' room.

Chris looked down at the plate in front of him that had yet to be picked up by the waiter. "So," Vince started, causing Chris to look up. "While Stephanie's in the bathroom, I wanted to ask you, man-to-man, what are you intentions with my daughter?"

Chris was a little startled by the question. He hadn't been expecting that out of Vince's mouth. Plus, what were his intentions? That was a really weird question to ask him. He fidgeted a little, "Do you mean with…the future?"

"Yes, with the future, of course with the future."

"Oh, okay then," Chris said. "I'm going to marry Stephanie."

Vince raised an eyebrow, "You say that with a lot of conviction."

"Well, it's true, I'm going to marry Stephanie," Chris shrugged. "I _want_ to marry your daughter, Vince, that's the long and short of it. I love her. I love her a lot."

"You're both young."

"Well, I'm not saying we're going to get married tomorrow," Chris said. "She knows all of this."

"What? You're engaged," Vince said.

"No, I'm waiting to ask her after she graduates, I'll probably do it somewhere in Japan while we're there, but she knows. We've discussed marriage and what we both want out of this relationship, Vince, and it's something that we both want. So she knows that it's coming."

"I can't believe this."

Stephanie showed up as Vince sat in shock. "What's up with my dad?"

"I told him that we're going to get married."

"Oops," Stephanie said as she sat down. "You told him?"

"He asked."

"You asked!" Stephanie said. "Dad, oh God, please don't tell me you gave him the 'what are your intentions with my daughter' speech? Please, please, please tell me you didn't."

"Oh, so this isn't new?" Chris asked with a laugh.

"No, it's one of my dad's little tests," Stephanie said, rolling her eyes. "Dad…"

"You two are getting married."

"Well…we're planning on it, in the future, though. Chris hasn't proposed, but I know that it's coming after I graduate. He promised to propose to me after I graduate, now whether or not this is true…"

"It's true," Chris interrupted.

"Yeah, it's not a big deal, Dad."

"Not a big deal," he choked out.

"It's not a done deal yet. I mean, it is, but it's not official yet. It's been a discussion, it's like…it's like an idea, really. It's going to happen, just not yet. I mean, it's a mutual decision between both of us, and we've decided that we will eventually get married," Stephanie explained. "We've discussed this like adults, Dad."

"Have you?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes, we have."

"And do you know how relationships go in this business?"

"Vince," Chris said. "Look, I know that you're worried about her, but don't…I don't know what else to say, just don't worry about her. I'm going to take good care of Stephanie, I promise you that. That's why she knows that I'm going to propose. We talked about marriage and what we both want. We didn't go into this lightly at all."

"I guess…well, congratulations, I think."

Meanwhile, Adam and Jay had gone to a bar to get a beer after training. Jay actually wanted to go see Sofia, but Adam had been so persuasive that he found himself sitting here, nursing his beer as Adam went on and on about how cool it was to actually meet Vince McMahon. He couldn't believe that he had actually put on a mock match in front of the biggest name in wrestling.

"Did he talk to you?" Adam asked, finally realizing that Jay wasn't saying much.

"Yeah, he did, we had a brief conversation," Jay answered. He had been so much in awe of Vince he probably came off like a dumb fool. "He said I had a lot of potential."

"Dude, that's awesome!" Adam told him, holding his hand up for a high five. Jay wasn't aware of it until Adam cleared his throat. Jay gave him a half-hearted high five, but Adam was too stoked about meeting Vince that he didn't even notice. "Vince talked to me too and said that if I kept training he could see bringing me into the fucking WWF. I couldn't believe it."

"That's awesome, man."

"I know, it is," Adam said, shaking his head. "I need to thank Chris for bringing him by, that's for sure. I mean, how the hell did he even get Vince McMahon to show up? That's like…it's like they're friends or something."

"I think that Vince really just wants Chris to join the WWF. I was talking to Chris and he said that Vince has been pretty aggressively trying to recruit him to the WWF. He probably just doesn't want him to go to WCW so he's being all buddy-buddy with him."

"Yeah, that's true," Jay said. "If I got offered a contract though, man, I'd snatch it up in an instant."

"Me too, dude, guaranteed money, an actual salary, not living from show to show, it'd be freaking great," Adam said a bit dreamily. "If only, though, right. We've still got a long way to go. We haven't even had our first official match, there's no way Vince McMahon would want someone so green."

"Yeah, which sucks," Jay said. "I could really use the money."

"Me too," Adam said.

Jay knew that Adam wanted the money for completely different reasons. He wanted the money to take care of his wife and daughter, which nobody knew that he had yet but they never left his mind. Having a yearly salary, and as good as one with the WWF would really ease his mind a lot. He'd be able to provide fully for Sofia and that would be the best feeling in the world.

"Hey, you know, this has been fun, but I've got somewhere to be," Jay said.

"Oh, okay," Adam said. "Sure, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, you will, later."

He went straight to Trish's house and rang the doorbell. Trish answered with Sofia in her arms. "Daddy! Hi, how are you?"

"Hey there, Sophie Bear," he said taking her into his arms. "I've missed you lots, have you missed me too?"

"Lots and lots," she replied with seriousness.

"Jay, hey, I thought you might come later."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to see Sophie now," Jay said. "So I have some good news?"

"What's that?"

"Vince McMahon, the owner of the WWF, he told me that he saw a lot of potential in me. It's a definite step in the right direction. My friend Chris got him to come over, I think I told you about that, and yeah, that's what he told me, so I'm on the path," he told her, hoping that it would make her proud or happy, or just…something positive.

"Oh," she said. "Well, that's…something, I guess."

"It's a good something, I'm doing well there, I really think that I can do something with this," Jay said.

"That is good, so you're going to take Sophie for the night, right?"

"Yeah, that's what we agreed on," he said. "I can't wait to have you spend the night, Sophie Bear. We're going to have so much fun."

"Yeah," Sofia agreed. "We can play."

"Yeah we can," he told her. "You're going to pick her up tomorrow before I leave, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"I have to ask though," Jay said. "This isn't usually the day you have her stay over with me, what changed your mind? Why are you letting me have her in the middle of the week?"

"It's no big deal," Trish said with a shrug. Jay knew she was lying with her and he tilted his head to look at her. She avoided his eyes, but he didn't stop staring at her. He was masterful at this, she knew, and she knew that she was going to crack. "My parents set me up with someone."

"A date?" he asked, his voice hitching at the end. "You're going on a date."

"A date, a meeting, whatever, he goes to my school, and he's apparently nice and it's really…it's my parents," she stumbled. "My parents have been pushing me to get out of the house because they think that all I do is go to school and then take care of Sophie. So they just want me to get out. It's nothing."

"No, no, no, we're separated, right, I mean, right?"

"Um, yeah, I guess," she told him.

"Be sure you're there early for Sophie, bye."

"Bye…"


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone. I understand that some people were upset by the Chris/Steph parts last chapter, but they are minor characters and while they are not THE focus of the story, they will have to play their parts. The story will be like 80/20, but there will be other characters, just letting you know. Hope you enjoy the chapter and if you want to review, feel free to do so. :)

* * *

The phone rang.

Jay looked at his daughter, who was playing on the floor with some blocks, pushing them around a little bit and trying to build something, but lacking some coordination that went along with it so she would only get about three blocks before the whole thing toppled over on her. Jay had been leaning against the couch, watching her play with the toys when the phone rang.

"Should I get that, Sophie Bear?" Jay asked his daughter.

"Uh…yes," she told him, giving him a smile as she tried go for four blocks this time. She almost made it before the entire tower fell to the ground.

"Well, I guess I have to now," he said, leaning over to kiss the top of her head before getting up and going to the phone. "I wonder if it's Mommy."

"Oh," Sofia said as she watched her father answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jay, it's me, Chris."

"Oh, hey, Chris, what's up?"

"Well, have I got good news for you, man," Chris said. "You know how training is about to end in like a week?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, I got you booked for a couple shows," Chris told him.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, they'll be your official debut. I can't promise you won't be used as more than a jobber, but the promotion I'm working with up here has a few slots open and I suggested you and Adam, and they said they were willing to try you guys out. It pays decent, five hundred a show, which, you know, helps."

"That would seriously help," Jay said.

"Yeah, so if you do well on your first show, they'll probably ask you back too, so you know, thank me in the form of alcohol because I haven't seen Stephanie in days and I'm getting awfully lonely."

"So sad," Jay said, though he could relate to Chris's sad tale. It felt like forever since he had been able to be with Trish. Her parents kept whisking her away with different guys that were friends of the family, or some such nonsense like that. She seemingly didn't have a night to spare. And even though she told him repeatedly that it was her parent's doing, he couldn't help but wonder if she was really having a good time on these dates.

"Yeah, I know, but what can you do, right? Anyways, so I can tell the booker that you're in?"

"Yeah, yeah, definitely in, I could really use the money," Jay said as he looked over at Sofia and waved at her playfully. The little girl giggled and waved back, pushing herself off the floor and running towards her father's legs. She crashed into them and hugged him around the legs as he bent down to heft her with his free arm.

"Yeah, I figured, it's hard making a living with this at first, but if you're decent, I could probably get you some work down in Mexico if you were interested. They can pay really well down there and I know a couple places that hire on a pretty long-term basis, you could make some serious cash, that way you know, WCW or the WWF can see you out there and then they'd come knocking."

"Is that what happened with you?"

"Not in so many words, I've also been to Japan and Europe, but it's a whole story with the Vince thing," Chris said, not wanting to get into it right now. This wasn't about him, it was about trying to get Jay some work.

"Oh, yeah, experience would be really good," Jay said. He was thinking about Mexico though. Could he really just up and leave and go to Mexico? He shuddered to think what Trish would think about all of that. She was already against this entire wrestling idea and if he told her that he was going to travel thousands of miles to do this and leave their daughter behind, she would probably have a cow. Also, her parents would finally be able to have concrete proof for him being an asshole.

"Yeah, it helps, plus it gets your matches out there, you can end up sending them to other companies, it's a good thing."

"Sounds like it, I really appreciate this, Chris," Jay said, thanking him.

"No problem, so what are you doing tonight? You can buy me a beer for tipping them off to you, really, I'm just looking for some free beer, so what do you say?"

"I'd love to normally, but I can't tonight, I've got company over," he said, looking down at his little girl.

"Oh, say no more, man, say no more," Chris said with a chuckle, "I know what you're saying."

Chris had no idea what Jay was saying. If Chris knew what Jay was saying, he didn't think that Chris would believe it. He had never mentioned Trish or Sofia, so why would Chris believe him? He'd probably think it was some lame excuse that he was using to get out of seeing him. So he was fine with letting Chris think that he had some girl over. It wasn't entirely false, Sofia was a girl, just not a girlfriend, but his daughter.

"Um, sure," Jay said. "I'll catch up with you later, Chris."

"Yeah, cool," Chris said, hanging up the phone.

Jay went back to looking at Sofia, "So Sophie Bear, it looks like your old man is finally going to get some work from this whole crazy, wrestling thing."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I am," he told her. "See, your dad has been training to be a wrestler, can you say wrestler?"

"No," she told him flatly and he laughed.

"Fair enough, you'll say it when you want to. Anyways, I've been training to be a wrestler because I think that it'd be better for all of us. I've already got people telling me that I can be pretty good, so I think that I can make this entire thing work. If I can make it to the big time, you won't have to worry about anything, you'll have everything that you've ever wanted."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, you will, and maybe your mom, well…I don't know, that's a really complicated situation," Jay said, running his hand over his daughter's head. "I guess your mom and I will have to work things out as they come."

"Play, Daddy."

"Okay, yeah, sure, sorry that I even interrupted your play time."

"It okay," she said as she tried to wiggle out of his arms. He set her on the ground and she went back to her blocks. He watched her for a moment before going to play with her again.

She was perfect the entire night, just like she usually was. For all the crap that he and Trish had gone through, Sofia was a perfect kid. He knew it wouldn't last, that'd she'd probably turn into some rebellious teen down the line, but for now, she was perfect to him. He woke up the next morning and set about making breakfast. He had never been much of a cook, but with Trish leaving him, he had been forced to learn.

As he was mixing up the pancake batter, there was a knock on the door. It must've been Trish because nobody had rung up to be let into the building. He went to the door and there she was. She smiled a little at him as he moved out of the way to let her inside. She saw that Sofia was sitting on her booster seat in the kitchen and figured out that she must've been interrupting their breakfast.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were making breakfast."

"Have you eaten?"

"No," she answered. "Not yet."

"Eat with us."

"I couldn't, I mean, you know, we should get going, or I'll get going and come back in a little bit," she stumbled through her words.

"Please, I insist," he told her. "I would like to eat to eat breakfast with you, I'm making pancakes, you like pancakes, and you know, we're still married, so I'm pretty sure that we're allowed to have breakfast together."

Her mouth twisted to one side as she tried to hold back a smile at his silliness, "Okay, I am pretty hungry…but since when have you learned to make pancakes?"

"Well, if I've had to do anything since you've been…away, it was learning to cook so I kind of set out to learn the basics. Pancakes are pretty basic, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I think so," she said as she sat down next to Sofia, who still looked pretty tired. Trish leaned over and kissed her daughter's cheek. "So um, how have you been?"

"I've been okay…uh, how have you been?"

"Good, good," she told him.

"So you went out on another date last night?"

"My parents keep refusing to let me sit at home. I didn't know that their friends had an endless string of sons that they wanted me to go out with."

"Are you having fun?"

Trish sighed and looked at Sofia. Jay took this as a good sign, but he waited for her to speak and confirm his suspicions. "Not really. I mean, I'm…no, not really."

"Then why do you go out on them?"

"Because my parents want me to, I guess," Trish said, "they took me back in, you know, and I know they're horribly disappointed in how my life has turned out and they're paying for my education and I feel like I've given them nothing in return and it makes me feel bad so it's like, the least I can do is go out with some guy they like."

"You don't have to stay with them, you know, I'm right here," Jay told her as he flipped another pancake onto a plate. He would give anything to have her back home with him right now. He missed her and it just didn't feel right around here without her there. He didn't want to come out and say she was the glue that held everything in his life together, but it was just more difficult and a lot less fun when she wasn't around. He wanted her.

"Chrissy, you know I can't do that."

"Of course you can. Babe, this whole separation thing is so stupid. I'm going to make something out of myself."

"I don't doubt that you'll try. I just can't live with that kind of uncertainty, it's not in my blood, I guess," Trish told him.

"Well," he said, coming over to sit down. "I was talking with Chris last night and he booked me a few jobs and if everything goes well, I could book an engagement. It's right around here so I wouldn't have to go anywhere, and it pays, starting, 500 dollars an appearance. It might even be higher if I get a full-time thing there."

"That's great," Trish said and he knew she was actually being genuine, which boosted his self-esteem higher.

"Um, Chris said another place I might get some work is…well, Mexico…"

"Mexico?"

"Yeah."

"_Mexico_ Mexico? Like South of the Border Mexico, that Mexico. The Mexico that is separated from here by the entire United States?"

"That's the same one, yeah," Jay said. "I haven't considered it, I really haven't, I only just heard about it last night so I haven't thought about it at all. I was just mentioning it. Chris has wrestled there, he's also wrestled in Germany and Japan, and I know it's not the same because he doesn't have a daughter, but I'm just showing you how many opportunities there are out there for me."

"That's still no guarantee."

"I know, but I'm trying here, Trish, I really am and I know I'm going to make it. I mean, Vince McMahon said I had potential. If I can get some experience under my belt, I could hopefully send a video to the WWF and maybe they'd hire me, but I need that experience."

"Are you asking me if you can go to Mexico if the opportunity arises, or Japan, are you seriously asking me that?"

"Maybe I would like to know what you think."

"You know what I think. We have a small child, Jay, we have a little girl who needs to be taken care of."

"I would be getting money to spend on her and making sure that she has the best life possible. All of this is for her."

"No, all of this is for _you_, this is _your_ dream, something that _you_ want to do."

"That would benefit us all," he argued.

"How is being thousands of miles away from your daughter benefiting her?"

"It would in the long run."

"Oh, the long run," she scoffed. "I'm sure that'll be a really great situation. Look, Chrissy, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, getting opportunities, but you have to be smart about this. We have a daughter to think about…"

"You don't think I don't think about her every single second of every single day. I'm constantly thinking about her, _constantly_. She's my daughter and I adore her and don't tell me that I'm not thinking about her."

"Okay, okay, you do think about her, I'm just worried."

"What's it going to take for you to just be with me on this?"

"I'm not sure I ever will be."

And there it was, this complete impasse. Trish was so unwilling to go along with this whole thing. It didn't even seem to be a conscious decision, it just seemed to be instinct so she was going for it. He guessed that Trish was always the practical one in the relationship, but he had hoped she would bend on this issue, let it become _their_ dream and not just his dream, but she was unwilling to budge because she had convinced herself not to budge. She was resisting because she was preconditioned to do so.

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"I'm sorry too."

"I'm going to prove you wrong."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, hope you enjoy the chapter and if you want to review, feel free. :)

* * *

"Lissy, come on, you can tell me."

"I'm not sure that she would want me to tell you what she's doing," Melissa said as she bit her lip. "I mean, that's like spying on my sister and that's not cool."

"I'm not asking you to spy on her," Jay told her. "I wouldn't ask you to follow her or something like that, I'm just…I mean, your parents keep making her go out with all these guys, right? That's what she's been telling me."

"Yeah, well, you know they don't like you," Melissa shrugged as Sofia tried to crawl all over her. She leaned down and kissed Sofia's cheek and Sofia hugged her. She loved her aunt very much. She was always wearing pretty colors and Sofia wished she could look like her Auntie Melissa. "After well…Sophie."

"Yeah, I know, so they're trying their hardest to make sure that I stay out of their daughter's life for good. I bet they were jumping for joy when Trish came back home, hell, they're probably starting to plan the divorce party."

"You guys aren't divorcing," Melissa said. "I mean, it's not like you've done anything with lawyers, right? I know Trish hasn't. I don't think she has the guts to be honest. She's like totally in love with you. I mean, she had a kid with you."

"I love you, Lissy, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she's in love with me."

"That's crap. She married you."

"She kind of had to," he pointed out.

"No, no, no, she wanted to," Melissa nodded vehemently. "I'm here sister, Jay, you think that she doesn't confide in me, of course she tells me everything and she wanted to marry you. I just don't think I feel comfortable talking about her with you."

"Whenever you bring Sophie over to me instead of Trish, do you go home and talk about me?" Jay asked her and Melissa cringed and looked guilty as sin. "Yeah, that's what I thought, you talk about me."

"She's my sister!" he protested.

"Lissy…"

It wasn't like he wanted his sister-in-law to follow his wife around and document everything she did, but he was curious as to Trish's life while they were apart. Her parents hated him, had since practically the beginning and getting their daughter pregnant had not endeared him to them. She kept saying she was going on these dates and he could not stand the thought of his wife out with other men, other men's lips on her skin, on her lips. He nearly shuddered at the thought and what if it didn't stop there? No, no, no, Trish wouldn't do that while they were still legally married, at least he hoped so. The thought of her doing that with anyone else did things to him that he did not like.

Trish was it for him. He'd known that the moment he met her and he knew it now. It was silly, he knew, to be so sure that young, but it was just this feeling you got and had and kept forever. He wanted Trish, she was all he wanted. He knew if he was going to be with her that he would have to provide for her and he was doing the best he could. Getting work was the first step and he was starting to do that.

"Okay, so my parents are setting her up with every guy they know, which is way more than I ever imagined. I mean, it's like they totally go to schools and like ask guys if they want to date their daughter." She could see Jay's face, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. There's guys."

"A lot of guys."

"A number, small number compared to the guys in the world."

"That doesn't help me, Lissy," he intoned.

"She doesn't like any of them though," Melissa said. "I think she's just trying to please the parents. She said she'd love it if she didn't have to stay there, but while she is there, it's like, well, she kind of has to do what they say, they're our mom and dad. She's living there and she doesn't have to do anything but go to school and they help with Sofia."

"I help!" Sofia interjected.

"I know you do," Melissa said, hugging her and then setting her down. Sofia ran over to the play blanket that Jay always had set up in his living room. She sat her diapered butt down and grabbed some toys, banging them together almost immediately.

"So you think she's doing it out of obligation?"

"I think so, I guess that's how you could put it," Melissa told him. "They always end early and she says that she would rather spend time with Sophie anyways. I just think she's trying to go along with what Mom and Dad want and not really what she wants. She likes going to school though."

"She's always been smart."

"She's thinking about doing med school," Melissa said. "Can you believe that? My sister as a doctor."

Jay laughed, "I can believe it. She's incredible."

"She'll come home, Jay," Melissa said, then looked at her watch. "I should go. I told Dad I wouldn't have the car for too long and I don't want to get in trouble. I think Trish will pick up Sophie on Monday, but you can call the house and ask, is that okay?"

"Yeah, thanks, Lissy," Jay said, hugging her. "I know that I'm putting you in a hard place."

"It's okay, you love my sister," she said, hugging him back before leaving. She was just walking out and down the hallway when a guy stopped her. She looked at him and her eyes nearly bugged out of her face. He was gorgeous. "Hi…"

"Hey, were you just coming out of Jay Reso's apartment?"

"Yeah, that's Jay's apartment," she said, jerking her thumb towards the door.

"Thanks, I wasn't sure if I had the right floor," he said.

"Are you like one of his wrestling guy dudes?" Melissa asked, twirling some hair around her finger.

"Yeah, I'm one of those wrestling guy dudes," Chris laughed.

"Wow, awesome," she said. "You know, I totally believe in him. I know that he's going to make it."

"Are you guys friends?"

"Yeah, we're friends," Melissa said. "We're not like together or anything though."

"That's good, thanks for letting me know where he was," Chris said, "Nice meeting you."

"Melissa, Melissa Stratigias," she told him.

"Melissa," he said, walking past her and chuckling silently. That girl looked barely over sixteen. He stopped in front of Jay's door and knocked. He'd had to go into the records at the wrestling school to find out where Jay lived. He didn't know if Jay had any wrestling tights and he knew a woman who made them for cheap if Jay needed some for his first match.

"Did you forget something, Lissy?" Jay asked as he opened the door. His eyes widened as he saw Chris. "Dude, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, man, mind if I come in?" Chris asked.

"Um," Jay looked over his shoulder at Sofia, who was still playing on her blanket. "Yeah, I'm kind of busy right now, cleaning up and everything so you probably don't want to come in."

"I've seen messes before," Chris joked. "I really don't mind it."

"Yeah, I'm embarrassed so if you could…I mean, we're fine like this, so what's up?" Jay asked, trying to block the inside of his apartment from Chris, who thought it was weird. He tried to surreptitiously look over Jay's shoulder, but Jay was bigger than him height-wise so it was easy for Jay to block whatever was in there. He seemed to know the girl who had just left so maybe he had some other girl over? Chris had seen girls before so he couldn't understand why Jay was being so secretive, but to each their own.

"Well, I didn't know if you had any wrestling tights for your matches."

"Oh yeah," Jay said, suddenly remembering that he hadn't had anything like that. "I don't have anything. I didn't even think of that."

"Yeah, I thought that might happen. But I know someone who could help you out with that," Chris told him. "She's been making tights for me and she's really good about making them. Stephanie keeps insisting that I use this other fancier one, but Maggie has always hooked me up and for cheap, really just the cost of fabric and a small labor fee so it's really cheap and I figure that's what you need since you're just starting off, right?"

"That's a huge help, Chris, you have no idea."

"You can just sketch up or write up what you want and then she takes you fabric shopping and you're good to go."

"Awesome," Jay said.

"So you excited for your first real match?"

"You have no idea," Jay told him. He'd been up nights just thinking about how his match was going to go and how he would fare. He'd been trained and now he had to go out and prove himself. He knew it was going to be scary out there, but he just hoped it wasn't bad. Bad was what terrified him.

It was only when she was right next to him did he notice Sofia. She'd toddled over and was right next to his leg, tugging on his pants. "Daddy, come play."

Jay's eyes widened as Chris's eyes flitted down to the tiny toddler clinging to his leg. "Hey there," Chris said to her.

"Hi," she said sweetly to Chris. "Who you?"

"I'm Chris," he told her kindly. She was an adorable little girl and she looked like Jay. Chris would be an idiot not to figure out that this was Jay's daughter. Even if she hadn't called Jay daddy, he would have known just by looking at her.

"I Sophie," she told him with a big grin. "Daddy, come play."

"I'll be there in a second, okay, Sophie Bear, I'm just talking to Chris. Go play with what you want us to play with and I'll be right there."

"Okay," she said, skipping off to get her dolls. She and her daddy could play dolls.

"So that your daughter?" Chris asked, though it was obvious. He looked over at Jay, whose head was down.

"Yeah, that's my daughter," Jay answered, looking up at Chris. "Her name is Sofia, she's two."

"She's adorable," Chris said. "That girl that was here, was she-"

"Oh, God no," Jay said, knowing that Melissa looked every bit her age. He didn't want Chris thinking that he had gotten Melissa pregnant. "That's…well, since you know I have a daughter, you might as well know it all, that was Melissa, she's my sister-in-law. I'm married to her sister, who is older than her, definitely. She was dropping off my daughter. She spends most of the week with my wife."

Chris was taken aback, "I had no idea man."

"I didn't want to say anything, it's a long story and not one I share with a lot of people. I just wanted to go in there and be Jay, not, Jay with his wife and child to think about it."

"I know something about how that goes," Chris said, thinking about his relationship with Stephanie and how he couldn't tell anyone who Stephanie was and what his relationship with the WWF was at this point. "You didn't have to hide it though."

"I know, it's just, well…"

"You're doing this for them."

"Yeah, but my wife is against it," Jay said, shaking his head. "So I've kind of hinged everything on this, I probably shouldn't have, but well, I guess I just really want this to happen."

"You know, Stephanie thought you were distracted by something and she was right, you have more to lose than a lot of people," Chris said. "Look, I'm not going to judge or whatever, your daughter is freaking adorable and you know, go out there and do your thing, don't let anyone stop you. So here's Maggie's number and she's expecting your call."

Chris handed Jay the number scribbled on a piece of paper, "Thanks man, and well, um, do you want to come in and meet Sophie." Chris smiled and nodded his head. He knew this was Jay trying to extend the olive branch to him. He knew it took a lot for Jay to even tell him about what was going on, though Chris had seen Sofia call Jay daddy, but still, it was a huge step for Jay.

"Yeah, I'd like that."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, hope you enjoy the chapter, review if you want to. :)

* * *

"So he's married?"

"Yes, married," Chris said as Stephanie popped a grape into his mouth.

"And he has a kid?"

"A two year old daughter," Chris confirmed.

"Wow," Stephanie said, "I never would have guessed. I mean, I knew something was bothering him, but I never figured that it would be a wife and a kid. I can't believe that. I'm not saying it's bad or anything, but he's really young, isn't he? I mean, he's like my age and I can't imagine…no, he's even younger than me and I can't imagine having kids right now."

"He's trying to find a way to support them. It's always been his dream and he didn't want to defer it just because he has a wife and a daughter."

"A wife and a daughter, God, that must be so hard," Stephanie said with a sigh as Chris gave her a strawberry. "I can't imagine the pressure that he's feeling. Maybe I can talk to my dad and get him a job right away."

"Stephanie, I know your dad, he's going to think Jay is too green to be anything but a glorified jobber and those guys hardly ever make it out of that rut," Chris said. "I can get him some jobs in Mexico and-"

"Chris, you don't understand," Stephanie said gently, "this man has a wife and a child. You're not single, but it's not like we're married and I'm sitting at home and you certainly better not have any children, but he can't be flitting all over the world."

"And he won't if he's in the WWF?" Chris said.

"It'll be a more strict schedule," Stephanie explained. "He'll know where he's going before he goes there. Look at you, you sometimes work in Mexico, you sometimes go overseas whenever there's a job, but you don't have an obligation to anyone to stick around-"

"I have you," he pointed out.

"That's different," Stephanie told him, "will you just let me finish? Look, if you get work or hear about work overseas, I'm not going to mind you going over there, I know that it's business and we spend a lot of time apart as it is, but Jay has a wife and a child to think about, he can't just go wherever the wind takes him and wherever there's a job, he's going to need steady work. You barely make enough to pay your rent as it is and your car is about to die and you refuse to let your parents help you with tuition."

"I'm an adult, I don't need my parents to help me," Chris told her defiantly.

"I know that, but I'm just saying that you do this all for yourself and you're barely making it because you have all these expenses. Jay has at least one person he has to look after, I don't know what his wife's circumstances are, but he could be looking to support her too."

"His wife is in college, she actually goes to the same school I'm going to right now. Jay said that she's a freshman so she hasn't really decided what she wants to do just yet, but that she was thinking about going into pre-med."

"So she's not working?"

"Not right now, no."

"Okay, that's two people then," Stephanie said. "If I can get him a job with my dad, he'll have a steady income and it'll help him out."

"He's not going to want handouts," Chris argued.

"It's not a handout," Stephanie said, "it's helping a guy out who could use the money."

"Stephanie, I don't think we should be butting into his business," Chris shook his head, almost regretting telling his girlfriend the situation with Jay. He was still trying to process it himself. He'd have never guessed that he could have a wife and a child and he couldn't imagine himself that young and having so much responsibility. It had to be so much pressure to try and create something stable for a family.

"We're his friends."

"Obviously not good enough friends to tell us about this."

"He eventually did, which means he trusts you."

"I saw his daughter and she called him Daddy, I don't think he was too eager to give up the information until he absolutely had to. I think we should just leave well enough alone. I think I'm already helping him by getting him work. We just have to go to the next show and support him, got it?"

"You can't tell me what to do," Stephanie told him, glaring at him. "You can't tell me that I should butt out of things, you're not my mother or my father, you're just my boyfriend."

"And I'm asking you, as your boyfriend, to just stay out of things, this isn't really our business and we still wouldn't know about it if Sofia hadn't been there. He only told because he had to and we have to respect his privacy. We don't tell anyone who you really are, do we? So let's do the same for him."

"Fine, fine, fine," Stephanie said, rolling her eyes, "but only because nobody knows who I am."

Later that evening, Chris pulled Stephanie backstage and they looked around. It was hectic, but in an organized way. It was better than a lot of places Chris had been. He wasn't on the card tonight, but everyone knew him because he had done shows with this particular promotion before. He kept getting stopped every few minutes to speak to someone or someone wanted to be introduced to Stephanie. Finally he got to the locker room area and he stopped Stephanie short of one of the doors.

"I'll go look for him and bring him out, you stay here and try not to run off with some other guy," he told her impishly.

"I'll try," she told him, rolling her eyes.

Chris slipped into the locker room and looked around. Jay was sitting on a bench with Adam next to him. They were talking quietly and Chris walked over, slapping them both on the backs, startling them and making them look over their shoulder. "You two ready to perform?" Chris asked good-naturedly.

"Nervous as hell," Jay muttered.

"I'm going to rock this shit _out_," Adam said, the adrenaline making him hyper. He couldn't wait to get out there and perform.

"What do you guys have on tap?"

"We're going against each other," Adam answered. "They thought since we were both new and didn't have much experience that we could go against each other so neither one of us looks too bad. I guess it's good strategy."

"Yeah, if you screw up at least your opponent won't chew you out. I had my first match against a rookie too so I know how it goes, though if I were booking, I might put you against a more experienced guy who would be able to carry you through a match."

"But you're not on the card," Adam joked.

"Yeah, it's true, I can carry anyone through a match," Chris said with just the right amount of cocky.

"And yet you are rejecting Vince McMahon, explain to me again why the hell you're doing that?" Adam asked.

"I have my reasons," Chris said cryptically. "You mentally prepared, Jay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting there," Jay said.

In all honesty, he wished that Trish was here. It was his first match, the first time he was going to go out there with his Christian persona and it just felt like a moment she should be here for. He'd tried calling her this morning, but Melissa had told him she was out walking with Sofia. He'd asked Melissa to tell Trish to call her back, but she didn't return his calls. He'd sat by the phone until he was nearly late and she hadn't called. He couldn't' believe their relationship had degraded to the point that she wouldn't return his calls. He'd been so excited to tell her too, to tell her that tonight was the night and that for a few nights work, he'd be getting paid nearly 500 dollars. It was something, making money for his family and she couldn't be bothered.

It seemed that he was really losing her. This was his dream and she just didn't share in it. He knew that when Sofia was born that some dreams had to change, but he didn't see why everything had to change. He didn't know why he couldn't keep part of the dreamer that he had been before. He knew his responsibilities and he knew that he needed to take life seriously. He'd been taking it seriously since the moment Trish told him she was pregnant, but why couldn't he try and have it all, who was he really hurting?

"Yo, Jay," Chris said, straddling the bench and only then did Jay notice that Adam had disappeared somewhere. "You still with me?"

"Sorry," Jay said, shaking his head and clearing his thoughts, "where did Adam go?"

"I don't know, talking to someone," Chris said dismissingly. "Try to get a plan out for your match before you go out there, I don't know that you guys are good enough to call your matches on the fly yet, just a heads up. So…did you call Trish?"

"Yeah, I tried at least," Jay said.

"And?"

"She's not coming."

"Why not?"

"If I had any sort of reason, I would let you know," Jay said with a sardonic laugh. "Unfortunately, she won't even return my calls, so it looks like she's not coming, but whatever, right, I can still have a great match without her here."

"There's got to be a phone around here somewhere, why don't you give her a call. I think there's still time for her to get down here. She should really be here to see you have your first match. I had a bunch of my friends come down to watch my first match."

"I gave her all day to come, she's just not coming."

Chris didn't know what to say. He didn't take Stephanie for granted, but this only served to remind him that Stephanie was not the norm when it came to a girlfriend. She came from a different world than Jay's wife did. Jay's wife had probably never seen a professional wrestling match, at least not enough to know the nuances. Stephanie could critique a match like she was _in_ the match. Still, if this woman loved Jay, she should be here to support his dream.

"I'm sorry, dude."

"It's fine," Jay said, trying to hide the hurt he felt. "At least you came."

"Steph's here too, she wanted to come support you guys."

"She's here?"

"Yeah, she flew in last night, wanted it to be a surprise. I told her what was going on with you, no secrets in the relationship and all that shit, so she knows so forgive her when she inevitably looks at you with those doe eyes of hers."

"I'll go say hi," Jay said, standing up.

He walked out the door and saw Stephanie talking with Adam. She saw him walk out and she waved him over. He came over and smiled at her. "Hey, Jay, how are you doing? Nervous?"

"Yeah, a little," he said, giving her a hug. "Thanks so much for coming."

"Of course I'd be here, you guys are going to do a great job," she nodded, looking between him and Adam. "So go out there and steal the show and Chris and I will be cheering you guys on and then after, we'll take you out for drinks, my treat."

"Those are the magic words," Adam said, "I'm taking you up on that, Steph, unless I find a better offer if you catch my drift."

Adam bounded off, thinking about all the ring rats that he was sure to get by the end of the evening. Stephanie laughed at him, "Some guys, I swear…so I'm sure Chris told you that he told me."

"Yeah, he did."

"I had no idea, Jay," she said.

"It's nothing," he said. "I'm not worried about it, you shouldn't either, okay?"

"Okay," she said with a nod. "Knock them dead out there."

By the time his match rolled around, he felt like _he_ was the one who would be dead out there. His stomach had fled his body and he wasn't sure where it was hiding. He was starting to rethink this wrestler thing. It hadn't been his best idea to be sure. Who was he kidding? He wasn't good enough to do this, maybe he'd never be good enough. He only wished he could back out of it now, but he couldn't. He'd signed on for this and he had to go out there in front of hundreds of people and perform and wrestle. What if he forgot a move? What if he forgot everything he'd learned?

"We're up, man, good luck," Adam said, patting him on the back as he went out to some mild cheers from the crowd. They didn't know who he was so their cheers were tentative and Adam had chosen some Metallica song to come out to. Jay had chosen an Iron Maiden song that he'd always thought was cool, but he couldn't even remember the name of the song at this point, he could barely even remember his ring name. The lights felt so bright when he stepped out there and the cheering, though everyone else might have called it mild felt like thousands and thousands of people yelling at him. It was incredible and such a rush.

He ended up running to the ring and staring down Adam. The nerves he felt in his stomach could be matched in Adam's eyes as they looked at each other across the ring. They circled around each other, locking up every few moments before pulling apart. Finally, Adam got him in a headlock and it was like everything started falling into place. He wasn't going to lie and say that he was a genius with this wrestling thing and his first match was the best first match anyone had ever had in the history of professional wrestling, but it certainly felt good. When he went for a dropkick, he didn't miss it completely and that in and of itself was enough to celebrate.

He could really do this; that was the prevailing thought. He could really go out here and have a match and work hard. He and Adam were putting on a show and the crowd was into it. He could hear Stephanie and Chris because they were ringside, but it felt like he could hear all the individual voices yelling at him and spurring him on. He was taking bumps well too, when Adam went for an elbow off the top rope, he took the bump like a champ, using all the skills he'd learned. His confidence was boosted and he was starting to believe that this could be his career. If it always felt this good, then he could do this.

Trish stared at him from the back of the venue. She'd gotten a last minute ticket at the door and she looked around. The crowd wasn't large, but they were extremely vocal. She'd never been to anything like this before. She wasn't into sports so she'd never been to a sports game and she spent so much time with Sofia she wouldn't have had time to even if she liked sports. But when Melissa had given her the message that Jay was wrestling tonight and that he wanted her there, she couldn't pass up the chance to see him. She didn't understand this wrestling business and she probably never would, but she wanted to see him and see what this was all about.

Maybe see if it could fit in her life.


	11. Chapter 11

"You have to admit, dude, that felt so good."

Jay laughed as he threw back his head to down some more of his beer. "Yeah, it did feel good," he admitted. Even if Trish hadn't been there to see him wrestle his very first match, it still felt good to be out there. The adrenaline was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. Though the crowd hadn't been large, it felt like there were thousands of eyes just on him, relying on him to entertain them and he liked to think he'd done a decent enough job. There'd been a few botched spots, but Chris had told him that was to be expected in his first match, nerves and all that.

"We rocked out there," Adam said, ignoring the fact there were a couple times where they were not so rocking.

"You guys were good," Stephanie said, nodding as Chris draped his arm around her neck proudly. He loved the fact that he had a girlfriend who could assess a match. "But don't get content with good, if you want to make it anywhere, you're going to have to be great."

"Words to live by," Chris said, "the minute you start thinking, hey, I'm great, I have no room for improvement is the day that you don't get any better and then you get stagnant and nobody is going to want you and you're not going to be pushed at all."

"Duly noted," Jay said. "I know there was room for improvement though, it was just our first match. It felt good to get paid though, I know that it's not going to be totally steady work, but the money is going to help."

"The money issue is going to be a big thing," Chris told them. "You're going to run into guys that aren't going to pay you or try to low-ball you. That's one of the roughest things about the business, the money. You've got guys who are just out to scam you and you have to be careful with who you trust."

"Okay, so you say this, yet you have a standing offer with Vince McMahon," Adam said, "dude, what the hell is _up_ with that? I mean, you've got the god of wrestling at your door and you're not taking the work. I would literally jump at the chance to work for Vince and the WWF."

"I don't feel like I'm ready," Chris shrugged. "I want to feel like I'm ready and I'm not yet, I know that. Besides, I've got stuff booked for a while and I can't right now and when I get there, I'll get there."

Stephanie tried to hold in her eye-roll, but it was difficult. She would never understand why her boyfriend wouldn't take the opportunity that so many others were drooling over. She wouldn't get in the way though because that wasn't her style. If Chris didn't want the opportunity, she would let him make his own decisions. That didn't deter her from wanting to interfere on Jay's behalf. She couldn't help it. Here was this guy, all of 20 years old and he had a wife and a daughter and was going to be struggling for a while. She knew the journeys weren't easy and she knew that there were other cases similar to Jay's, but he was her friend and she wanted to help.

"You're so fucking lucky and you don't even know it," Adam said, then turned his head and saw some ladies looking over at their table. "Oh man, look at those rad-looking girls over there checking me out, yeah, I know that you want me, ladies."

"You're a pervert, you do know that, right?" Stephanie told him.

"You're just mad that you stuck with that guy so you can't have me," Adam told her with a wink. "Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to actually use this wrestling thing to get boned tonight, see you suckers later."

"Bye," Stephanie said with a wave. "God, I worry about him. He's going to get himself in trouble if he's not careful."

"He'll find out soon enough how gross rats are," Chris said, snuggling Stephanie against him. "That's why I'm so glad I've got you."

"Yeah, that's the only reason," Stephanie told him, kissing his cheek. "So Jay, how do you really feel after your first match? How did it feel going out there?"

"It was…incredible," he grinned. "I can't even describe the feeling because it was so surreal. It was like everything I'd ever thought it was going to be, but more. It didn't even matter that the crowd wasn't big, it felt like I was a god or something. I know that's weird to say, but that's how I felt. I couldn't help it though, it was just so crazy out there. I hope I didn't look like a new guy though."

"Well, of course you did," Chris said, "nobody knew who you were, but I think you guys did a good job getting the crowd into it. They were really getting into the false finish thing at the end. That's what you want to do, you want to tell a story. Good wrestlers are able to tell stories through their wrestling, get the crowd wanting more of it and for your first match, I think you both did a great job."

"Thanks, Chris, you have no idea how much that means to hear that. I know that you're not much older, but hearing it from someone who is actually _in_ the wrestling business is different than hearing it from I don't know, Joe Blow off the street."

"I understand," Chris told him. "So did you see…"

"No," Jay interrupted with a shrug that he meant to look casual, but he was anything but. The mere mention of Trish caused him to tense up a little and it was noticeable to the other two people at the table. "I didn't see her and I would hope if she came she'd tell me."

"What if she didn't though?" Stephanie said, hoping to cheer him up. "I mean, you know, Chris said she was against the whole wrestling thing so maybe she came, but wouldn't tell you to try and save face."

"She's not like that," Jay told them. "She's very headstrong. She does what she wants, you know and if she was going to come, she'd tell me, let me know, I hope she would. I really wanted her to be there though. As much fun as it was, having her there with me would have been a million times better."

"Maybe she'll come to another match of yours," Stephanie said and Chris nodded along. "You've just got to keep inviting her. The more experience you get, the more work you're going to get. She's worried about money, right?"

"Among other things. I think she just wants stability and can I really blame her for wanting that?" he wondered. "I mean, we've never exactly done things…the right way. I've loved her for a really long time though and I just can't imagine the rest of my life without her ad I know I'm only 20, but it's just…I've loved her for so long."

Stephanie squeezed Chris's hand under the table, "I get what you mean. You know you love her, but you know she wants something that you can't exactly give her right now."

"Yeah, it's like that. And even if I do get to the big times," he said, "I'm not sure she'd want that. I know I wouldn't be there for her."

"You shouldn't give up your dream though," Chris told him. "If this is your dream then it's your dream and you have to at least try for it, don't you think?"

"See, normally, I think I would think that," Jay said, "but I've got a family. It's so much more to think about and I don't know, maybe I'm being selfish like Trish thinks I am. I'm trying not to be, I like to think I'm doing this all for a purpose, that purpose being the financial security for my wife and daughter, but she sees it as this pipe dream that won't provide for Sophie."

Stephanie looked at Chris and nudged him in the shoulder, looking at him imploringly. All she had to do was mention who her father was and she could help Jay with that stability he so desperately sought. Chris shook his head no and she widened her eyes, asking him again and he again shook his head. He didn't see Jay as one of the guys to take a handout for one, but he knew that Vince would see him as nothing more than a green jobber right now. Jay needed the experience before going to the WWF.

Later that evening, Stephanie walked into the bedroom where Chris was lounging on his bed. "Okay, so I know you didn't want me to do anything and I didn't call my dad or anything, but I did call his office…"

"Stephanie McMahon, what did you do?" Chris asked. "Stop trying to dictate Jay's life. He's not going to be good for the company right now. You know how your dad is with guys that aren't the usual type that he loves."

"But look at Shawn and Bret, they're not the type," Stephanie pointed out, "and they're doing well."

"Shawn has the most charisma of any wrestler since…well, forever," Chris told her, "and Bret is probably the best wrestler to ever come out of Canada, myself included. Both of those guys have worked and earned their spot."

"Okay, okay, I get it, anyways, I called in a couple favors," Stephanie said and she thrust a piece of paper at Chris. "I was able to get Trish's schedule at school and I was thinking since you're both…there, you might seek her out and talk to her."

"You're a piece of work, McMahon, you know that," Chris said, shoving her hand away. "I'm not going to talk to her, okay? This is _their_ business and while I think it's sweet of you to actually care about what happens to them, this is their marriage, not ours. If she doesn't support him, she doesn't support him."

"But what if you were married and your wife didn't support you?"

"Moot point because I'm not married and when _we_ get married, you already support me. We just have to let them work things out for themselves and if they don't, they don't. We don't even _know_ Trish, only what Jay has told us about her. She might have some valid points and what am I going to do, force myself on her and tell her that she _has_ to accept that her husband is wrestling?"

"Just tell her that it _is_ a viable option for a career."

"I'm not doing it," Chris told her, "you're out of your mind if you think I'm going to go up to a woman I don't know and start telling her what to do."

"Fine!" Stephanie said, crumpling up the paper and throwing it to the ground. "We just won't do anything for our friends ever!"

Jay opened the door and saw Trish and Sofia and was surprised. "Hey, Trish, I thought Melissa was going to drop off Sophie today."

"She has a cold so it's actually really good that you're taking Sofia for a couple days so she doesn't get sick," Trish said and Jay gently rubbed his daughter's back, who was asleep in her mother's arms. "She fell asleep on the ride over, you know how she gets in cars, always falls asleep."

"Here, let me take her," Jay said, taking his daughter into his arms and then taking her into her nursery and laying her down in her crib. He'd have to buy her a bed pretty soon as she was outgrowing the crib. Luckily he'd gotten paid for the wrestling and paid pretty well if he did say so himself. He walked out into the living area again and saw Trish putting dishes away. He always forgot to do that. "You don't have to do that."

"It's okay," Trish said, "thought I'd help out."

"I really hoped you'd come to my first wrestling gig," Jay told her quietly. "I kept looking for you, hoping that you would show up."

"You know that's not my thing," she told him, but didn't face him. She'd come to every show he had over that three night span. She still didn't understand his motivation for all this, didn't get why _this_ was his dream of all things, but she couldn't just ignore it and not support him, even in her own little way. She didn't know why she wanted to keep it a secret, but she just felt like she needed to keep it to herself. She didn't want to give him false hope that she'd ever be okay with this because she wasn't.

"I know, but it would have been nice to have people there," he said, looking down. "My mom actually came to one of the shows."

"That's nice of her."

"She supports me."

Trish turned to him, "Jay, I've told you my feelings on the entire thing, I can't help them. I can't help that the life I want is so far removed from the life I have. I'm not blaming you for any of this…I just can't handle it all right now. I knew that getting married so young would have all these…whatevers, responsibilities, but when you're trying to deal with a husband who wants to become a professional wrestler, it's like I've got to throw it all out the window."

"I got paid really well for the show," he told her, trying to show her what he could do.

"And will you every time you have one of these shows?"

"Not really…"

"And the traveling, where are you going next, huh?"

"Well, you know I was thinking about Mexico."

"Yeah, Mexico, see, a whole country in between the two of us," she shook her head. "I'm proud of you, Jay, you know this, but I can't see how this is good for _us_. All it seems to be is good for _you_ and I can't handle that."

"I'm just asking you for a little support," he told her, "that's all, I don't think it's too much to ask that my wife give me a small amount of support. All these other guys-"

"I don't care about other guys, I care about you and Sophie, that's it and I'm doing what I have to, to make sure Sophie gets everything, please do the same," Trish said. "I've got to go."

"Trish, we're not done here!" he yelled at her as she grabbed her keys and walked towards the door.

"Oh yes, we are."

The finality of her words sent a chill down his spine.


	12. Chapter 12

Trish tapped her pencil against the dining room table as she tried to concentrate on her homework. In high school, before she'd gotten pregnant, she'd been a star pupil. She'd gotten straight A's, she'd been part of the debate team, a member of the pep squad, and student council treasurer. Things had been going her way and then Sofia had come along. She'd had to put the rest of her life in the backseat and she was just now getting back on track. For so long it had been her and Jay against the world and now it was just her and it was strange.

She was scared though, scared of what Jay could become, who he could become. She was scared that he would run off and she'd never see him again. She was scared for his success and scared for his failures. She was absolutely worried about Sofia's future and what part Jay would play in all of it. If he was wrestling, traveling around the world, where did that leave her and Sofia. She didn't necessarily want to curb his dreams, but she didn't see her place in them.

Maybe this was all a defense mechanism set to stave off her fear. If she left him then she wasn't culpable for what could happen to their relationship. She was plagued with being an over-thinker and one of her biggest problems was figuring out every possible solution to a situation. The situation of Jay wrestling just came up with too many cons and so she didn't like it, she didn't want it in her life and so she'd banished him completely from hers.

"Studying hard?"

Trish looked up and saw her mother standing in the doorway. There was a look of pride in her eyes that Trish hadn't seen in over two years. After she'd finally confessed about Sofia (four months into her pregnancy) her mother and father had only looked at her with disappointment. She'd gotten so used to that look that seeing this look was still strange and almost fascinating. She wasn't sure if the pride was over her leaving Jay or over her going back to school.

Her parents had once loved Jay. They thought he was the perfect boyfriend, a gentleman even. Then she'd gotten pregnant and their feelings had turned on a dime. She couldn't really blame them but Jay had proven that he was a wonderful father and she wished they'd get those looks out of their eyes for him, but that wasn't happening any time soon.

"Yeah, trying," Trish said, giving as fake a smile as she could muster.

"What are you studying?" her mother asked, coming and sitting next to her, looking over the books in front of her.

"Just a core English class," Trish explained. "We're reading Shakespeare, kind of boring, but I have to get through all of this so I can get to my core classes."

"Good, I'm glad to see that you're plowing through," Alice said. "Must be nice to get back to school. I wish I could go back to college."

"Yeah, it's a whole lot of fun," Trish said sarcastically then shook her head, "it's just I've got a lot of homework and I know I don't have to catch up necessarily, but I have a big load this semester."

"I understand, but I'm glad that you're challenging yourself though," Alice told her.

"Yeah, definitely a challenge," Trish said, wishing her mother would just leave her alone. It was still awkward being here and she wished this feeling would dissipate already.

"So, I know that you haven't been really interested in anyone I've set you up with, but my friend, Joan, her son is just back in town. He goes to school in the States, University of Wisconsin and he's pre-med like you want to be-"

"Wanted to be," Trish said, "I'm not sure that's what I want to do anymore. I'm exploring my options and I've got time, Mom."

"Yes, but I'm sure your love of medicine will come back," her mother assured her and it was like her mother never heard her. "Anyways, I thought the two of you would hit it off and if you want, I can set you two up."

"Mom, this is like the fourth guy that you've wanted me to meet up with and every time it's a disaster, when are you going to give up? I'm not even divorced yet, Jay and I are just separated and you're like shoving dates down my throat."

"I just want you to be happy," Alice said and her voice screamed of patronization.

"And setting me up with all your friends' sons is the way to do that?"

"I'm simply trying to get your mind off of Jay," she explained, "and with this wrestling thing he wants to do, how often is he going to be around anyways? Plus, I'm sorry to say, sweetheart, but with professions like that, like athletes who travel, they all cheat, you know. I read this article about this man on a basketball team who had something like seven children in all these different states."

"You don't know that he would do that," Trish scoffed. "You're just projecting."

"I'm just stating what I've heard," Alice told her. "I don't want that for you. Plus, this all seems like such a pipe dream."

Trish had the same fear, but when her mother said it, it sounded so much worse and she wondered if this was how she sounded to Jay. She started to feel bad for it and wondered if maybe she should talk to him about it, tell him that she had been there to see him wrestle and that while she didn't know a damn thing about the entire thing, he had looked pretty good from what she'd seen.

"And what if he succeeds? What if he's not bad?"

"Well then good for him." Alice stood up and patted Trish on the shoulder. "I'm going to set you up with Joan's son. It'll get you out of the house and give you a little break from all this studying, I think you've earned the break."

Trish tapped her pencil a little harder against the table.

Chris was going to kill her. Stephanie knew that Chris was going to be so mad if she saw him here. She knew his schedule and he had a couple classes right now and so he was on campus somewhere. She just had to make sure she didn't run into him. She pushed her sunglasses up and looked at the two schedules in her hand again. Chris was in FitzGerald Hall and Trish was in the Health Sciences Building. She looked at the map in front of her again then back down at her schedules.

"Hey, having trouble?"

Stephanie looked over her shoulder at a black-haired girl and she laughed, "Yeah, actually, I'm thinking about coming here and I had called to see if I could audit a few courses and I can't find my way around."

"You had that lost look," the girl said, "I'm Shelly."

"Stephanie," Stephanie said, shaking her hand.

"Do you live around Toronto?"

"No, I don't, I have a boyfriend that goes here and well, I wanted to see if I could come too," Stephanie said and it wasn't necessarily a lie. "He has his class in FitzGerald Hall, but I was looking for the Health Sciences Building."

"That's where I'm headed, come on, what class are you auditing?"

"A statistics course."

"Oh, okay, I know which one you're thinking of, I'm a grad student and I'm actually TA'ing one of the seminars, so I definitely know about the class. It's not a tough one if you're familiar with statistics."

"I am," Stephanie said, though it had actually been a while since she'd taken a math class. "I actually kind of know a friend of a friend in one of the classes, her name is Trish Reso, have you heard of her?"

"Oh yeah, I know Trish," Shelly said. "She's part of the study group that I run. She took a couple years off after high school and she wanted the extra help to make sure she kept up, she's a really cool girl, you know her then?"

"I know _of_ her, I'm friends with someone she's friends with, I heard from them that she actually goes here. I was hoping to talk to her."

"Oh yeah, she's in the class we're going to right now I think," Shelly said. "You should ask her to show you around, she's a first year so she knows what you're going through, looking for what you want to do and everything. It's really good to get that kind of perspective. Or you could get your boyfriend to do that, you said he comes here too?"

"Yeah, but he's a little older so I like the idea of talking to a freshman." They walked into a building and Stephanie followed Shelly to one of the doors.

"Then yeah, I'd talk to her if you could. Tell her that Shelly sent you," she laughed, "okay, here we go, this is the lecture hall, the class is huge so you probably don't even need to tell the professor you're there, he probably won't even notice."

"Thanks again, Shelly."

"No problem, I hope you choose to come here, if you do, look me up," Shelly waved and then walked away down the hallway. Stephanie looked to her right and then entered the classroom, a sunken room with tiered desk seating. Stephanie took a seat near the back and sat down, looking around. There had to be at least a hundred students in here. She wondered if the professor would take attendance. She didn't think he would, not with this many people. She would just have to wait and see.

She wished Jay had given her a picture of Trish so she might know what she looked like. There were just too many people there. She waited for the class to start and when the professor didn't take attendance, she slipped out quietly and left the building. She was just turning the corner when she saw Chris walking quickly towards another building. She would know him anywhere, his long, blond hair flying behind him. She ducked out of the way and took a deep breath. Luckily Chris looked like he was late for class. She looked down at the paper in front of her. Trish had two more classes today.

She had two more chances.

The second course was much like the first, too many people, but the third one looked promising. It was an anthropology course, and there appeared to be only twenty or so people in the class. She walked up to the professor sitting at the desk and explained that she was taking a tour of the campus and had hoped to audit the course for the afternoon. The professor was kind and told her to take a seat anywhere and she smiled and took a seat in the back where she could observe. The class started and the professor took attendance.

When Trish Reso came up, Stephanie watched as a petite blonde in the middle of the classroom raised her hand briefly and said she was here. Stephanie watched her and she could see where Christian would want to be with her. She was pretty and the eyes were always the first critic. Stephanie spent the rest of the class watching the girl, like she would see some reason why she'd leave her husband, but she just sat there taking notes. After the class was over, Stephanie watched as Trish gathered her things and then she was leaving. Stephanie raced to catch up with her and tapped her on the shoulder, causing the smaller woman to turn around. She looked questioningly at Stephanie.

"Hi, do I know you?"

"Hi, you _don't_ know me, but I'm Stephanie McMahon, do you think we can talk?"


	13. Chapter 13

"Um, if you're trying to, I don't know, sell me something or…I mean, I'm sorry, I'm kind of busy."

Trish started to turn and walk away, but Stephanie couldn't be deterred. She'd come all this way and she couldn't just give up because Trish thought she was a weird solicitor. "It's about Jay," Stephanie said, hoping that would get Trish to turn around and like she hoped it would, it did. Trish turned around slowly and then appraised Stephanie.

"Jay?" Trish said slowly.

"Yeah, I mean, you are Trish, right, you do know Jay?" Stephanie was fairly sure this was the right girl, how many Trish Resos could there be at one university?

"Yeah, I know him," Trish said, stepping a little closer. "You know him?"

"Yeah, I've known him for a little while now, a few months," Stephanie explained. "I mean, yeah, we're you know…"

"Oh!" Trish said and she tried to put on her best face as she looked at this other girl. "Don't worry, I'm…we're um, we're separated so it's totally okay, you know, I mean, if you guys are dating, it's not a big deal, we _are_ separated so he's free to see whomever he wants."

Trish looked at this girl critically, taking in every part of her that she could see. She was quite a bit taller than she was, maybe Jay found it easier to be with someone who was closer to his height than her petite form. The girl was pretty too, really pretty, with long, brown hair that was flowing down her back in soft waves and blue-gray eyes. She was dressed stylishly and carried herself with an air that demanded attention or respect, well, it demanded something at least.

She couldn't begrudge Jay if he wanted to date someone. She had been on a couple dates since they'd been separated so it would be hypocritical of her to expect him to stay completely faithful to her during the entire thing. Granted, none of those dates went anywhere, but still, they were separated, she'd been looking into divorce lawyers (well, her parents had, they could not wait to get this process started and get Jay out of her life). But why hadn't Jay told her that he was dating someone? He probably didn't want to upset her.

She couldn't figure out why this girl was really here though. Was she worried that she was being the other woman? That was her only logical guess because she could see no other reason for why this girl would show up at her school, urgent to talk to her. She wanted Jay to be happy and if he was happy with another girl then she guessed she had to be happy for him. She was the one that left him so he wasn't expected to just sit around on his hands while she went out and…no, no, it still hurt her.

"Oh my God, no," Stephanie shook her head vigorously, tearing Trish from her thoughts. "Jay and I are _not _dating, oh goodness, no. I'm very happily with someone right now that I plan to marry so believe me, Jay is not even on my horizon."

Trish didn't realize she let out of a breath of relief until that relief flooded to the tips of her toes. "Oh, I'm sorry, I just assumed because you're a woman and…well, I mean…"

"No, no, that's not why I'm here," Stephanie said. "I'm here on behalf of him, well, he doesn't know I'm here, nobody does and it's kind of dangerous for me to be here in the open because my boyfriend, he goes to this school and if he sees me, he'll get really angry because I promised I wouldn't be here and…I'm sorry, is there somewhere more…secluded we can talk? I can buy you a cup of coffee or something."

"I don't drink coffee, but um, there's a diner across campus, it's not exactly secluded, but-"

"That'd work," Stephanie nodded, knowing that Chris usually headed to the campus gym after his classes so he would not be in a diner.

"Okay," Trish said, slightly suspicious and very much confused by this woman walking next to her as she led them to the diner. She had no idea what this was about, but now she was curious and this girl seemed, well, not _normal_ since she'd sought her out so aggressively, but not crazy in the sense that she needed to be committed. They didn't speak much on the walk over, neither one wanting to start conversation, but Stephanie didn't want to do this while walking and Trish didn't know what to say at all.

They sat down and Stephanie smiled at her, "You can have whatever you want, my treat, if you're hungry because I'm kind of starving because I've kind of been trying to find you all day and that took up a lot of time and I swear that I will not sound like a weirdo stalker as soon as I stop acting like a weirdo stalker…"

"Okay…" Trish still had no idea what to say as the waitress came over and took their orders. Stephanie got a cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake so Trish felt a little more at ease ordering a tuna melt with fries and a Coke. Once that was taken care of, Trish turned to her, "I'm sorry, I still don't know why you're here or how you know Jay…"

"I met him when he was in training for wrestling, wrestling training school."

"Oh," Trish said, "you're a wrestler?" She was a little incredulous. She'd not seen many women wrestlers, but she always thought they'd be a lot buffer and muscular, but Stephanie didn't look like that at all.

"No, no, no," Stephanie said, "my boyfriend is a wrestler. He was one of the trainers that trained Jay and Chris, my boyfriend, she saw a lot of potential in Jay and so he's been wrestling now for a little while, Chris got him a stint in a local company, I don't really know how much you know."

"I knew that," Trish said, "so why are you here?"

"Jay didn't say anything about you at first, I guess he was reluctant to look like…not that he seemed ashamed, but I think he was ashamed of himself for you know…anyways, he eventually told Chris and I about you and Chris has met your daughter, Sofia right?" Trish nodded. "Anyways, Jay is a really good guy and he told how you think that wrestling is really stupid…"

"Oh, so you're here to what, try and talk me into this wrestling thing?"

"I guess if you want to put it that bluntly, yes," Stephanie said as their drinks came. She took a long sip of her milkshake. "I'm not trying to force you to like wrestling or become some uber fan, I'm just saying that it's not as bad as you think it is."

"We have a very young daughter," Trish said, "I'm assuming you and your boyfriend don't have any kids."

"No, we don't," Stephanie bit her lip.

"We have to support ours," Trish told her. "We can't go off and do whatever we want, we have to think of Sophie first. She's our number one priority or she should be. Jay is not taking that into account."

"But that's just it, he is," Stephanie said, "wrestling is an option, it's a viable option."

"And you know this?"

"Better than most," Stephanie said.

"Where did you meet your boyfriend? Did you know he was a wrestler, is it a viable option for him?" Trish fired the questions at her. She was feeling a little bit persecuted right now, like she was being put on trial for believing that her husband should think of longevity and not go off on flights of whimsy.

"I met him at a wrestling show so yes, I knew he was a wrestler and I'm a huge fan and wrestling is a viable option for him," Stephanie said, "he's been all over the world and he has a tour of Japan coming up next summer and I'll be joining him."

"Well, that's all well and good for you, but some of us can't do that," Trish said, "I can't have him going around the world, we have a daughter together, a daughter who needs a father and how is he going to be a father if he's thousands of miles away."

"I'm not saying it's not hard, it is," Stephanie said, "but isn't everything? Would you feel the same way if he were a football player? If he were a baseball player having to travel all over the country to work?"

Trish hadn't thought of that, but it didn't make a difference. "We'd be stable if that were the case."

"So it's the money thing then?" Stephanie said.

"I guess, I don't know, I just…I think about Sophie first, always. I have to, I'm her mother," Trish said, "I can't do it alone. I can't have him away from here and leaving me and it's just…it's hard, you know."

"I can't understand completely, but…I just feel like you should give him a chance, give wrestling a chance," Stephanie could only say these words to her and hope that she changed her mind. "I can tell that Jay loves you because I think all of this is fueling him. I think you are and your daughter is. I think he's just trying to chase his dream while knowing that if he gets there, if he can do this, he'll be able to help you guys. I know that if you can get to the WWF or WCW, either one, there's good money in it, really good money sometimes."

"Is there?"

"Yeah."

"I know I sound like money-obsessed," Trish said, "but-"

"You have a kid, I get it," Stephanie said. "I just don't want…I like Jay, he's a really good guy and he's going to be a great wrestler, I can see it. I'm a pretty good assessor of talent and I just know a good wrestler when I see it and I think he can make it to the big time, but going around the world is a huge thing in the development of a wrestler, I think. There are so many different styles. My boyfriend, he can bring those styles to the table and that's what makes him a really good wrestler and he's gotten some offers to go to some pretty big feds."

"I don't want Jay to just give up," Trish said, "I don't…can I tell you something and you can't tell him, please?"

Trish, for some reason, liked Stephanie. She was real with her and she did seem nice and she was glad that Jay had friends in this weird business that didn't seem to be horrible. She wanted what was best for him too. It wasn't always just about Sofia, though most of her life was. She loved Jay, that wasn't the problem. The problem was losing him to this business. She felt like she could talk to Stephanie about this though and maybe there was even a friendship being forged here.

"Of course, I'm really good at keeping secrets," Stephanie said, seeing as how the biggest one was that her father was the head of one of the biggest wrestling companies in the world.

"I did go to his wrestling matches."

"What?"

"He told me about his debut with that company, I'm not sure what it was called, but I went and I saw him face that guy, um, Edge was it?"

"Yeah, he went against Edge, did he know, wait, I guess he didn't know that you went, why didn't you tell him? He really wanted you there, he said it after the fact because I didn't know he had a wife at the time, but still, he really would have wanted to know you were there."

"I just didn't know what to expect," Trish shrugged. "I guess he was good, I have no knowledge of wrestling, but…I just had to see."

"And it didn't change your mind?"

"I don't know," Trish wanted to cry almost. "I'm so torn over this entire thing. I want to support him because I love him, he's the only guy I've ever loved, Stephanie. I've never even thought about loving someone else, the idea is so whack to me."

"He just needs to know you're there for him, that's all," Stephanie said, "my boyfriend likes knowing I'm there for him. He wouldn't like knowing I'm here, but you can't win them all."

Trish laughed, "You're really nice."

"Thanks, I just want what's best for Jay and he loves you and I'm a big advocate of love," Stephanie admitted.

"I guess I have a lot to think about."


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing, hope you enjoy! :)

* * *

Trish figured the best way to go about this was to talk to Jay. She couldn't see any other way than to talk to him about this. She loved him, of course she loved him, she loved him now, then, and everywhere in between. It wasn't a matter of love. Still, she felt she owed it to him to at least tell him that she'd seen his matches. Stephanie had told her how he had expressed the desire to actually have her attend so it was the very least she could do to tell him she _had _been there.

After Stephanie left (and Trish was loath to admit that she kind of liked the girl) Trish went to the phone in the back of the diner and called Jay's number. She didn't know if he'd be home, but she chanced it and took a shot. "Hello?" he answered after a few rings and she felt her mouth go dry and she didn't speak for a few seconds. "Hello, is someone there? I can hear you breathing so if this is someone, it's weird that you're not saying anything."

She laughed as he eased the tension, "Jay, it's me."

"Trish, whoa, okay, sorry if I was rude just now, I thought you might be a prank call. What's going on? Is something up with Sophie, did you need me to take her for the night or something?"

"No, Sophie's okay, although, if you want her for a night, you know you just have to ask," Trish told him. "I won't not let you see her if you want to see her. You love her and she loves you. I'm not trying to keep her from you."

She wanted to make _that_ clear too. She never wanted Jay to feel like he couldn't see Sofia. If he wanted to come over to her house every day, then he could come to the house every day, even if her parents would protest and rail against it. He was Sofia's father and she wasn't going to bar him from that post. He loved his daughter more than anything in the world and she couldn't keep him away from her even if she wanted to. She wasn't that kind of woman and she would never be the kind of woman who used her daughter for leverage over her husband.

"I would love to have her."

"I was thinking," she had thought about having him come over to the diner right now so they could talk, but perhaps a discussion like this was best left to closed quarters, "maybe I could bring Sophie over tonight and we could have dinner with you. I can bring some groceries and cook, does that sound okay?"

"That sounds amazing," he said and she could hear the surprise in his voice. She'd known Jay far too long and she could read his tones like she read books. "I would…that would be great. Are you sure you want to though? I mean, if you're more comfortable just dropping off Sophie."

"No, no, I want to," she assured him. "We'll come by at six, is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure, you can come over whenever, I'll be here," he said eagerly. Any situation that got his wife and daughter over to the apartment was fine with him. He would wait all night if he had to. He missed them so much and the apartment got so lonely without them so if for one night they could all be a family, he was ecstatic.

"Okay, I'll see you then."

Jay grinned as he hung up the call. He looked around the apartment and started picking things up in rapid order. It wasn't extremely messy, but for some reason, he felt like tonight was going to be important somehow. He didn't know why he felt that, maybe it was some kind of connection he had with Trish, but he wanted his apartment to look perfect and it wasn't perfect. He contemplated whether or not he had time to go out and get some dust rags and dust spray (did that exist?) but that was ridiculous; he was just having Trish and Sofia over, not the Queen of England. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

Stephanie felt self-satisfied with her conversation with Trish. She hadn't explicitly told Trish to accept her husband back into her life, but she felt like she had set Trish on the right path. She wasn't some huge believer in true love, but she did believe in giving people chances. Jay was going to be a good wrestler; she could recognize talent when she saw it. All Trish needed to do was see that talent for herself. If Trish was willing to come to a show, Stephanie would sit with her and explain what was going on. That way Trish could see the skill involved with his work. It wasn't an easy job, but so many people made the mistake of thinking that.

She found her car in the parking garage she'd parked in and she searched her purse for her rental keys. "Stephanie?" Stephanie's eyes widened briefly as she contemplated not turning around and her hair was covering up her face so surely she couldn't totally be known. But then the voice again, "Steph, is that you?"

Stephanie winced as she stood up straight and turned around towards Chris, "There you are!"

"Huh?" he asked, his brow furrowing as he looked at her.

"I have been looking all over this campus for you," Stephanie said, "I thought I would find you in the gym, but you must have been to the wrong one or…I don't know how many there are, but you weren't in the one I saw…or at least I didn't see you."

"I actually had a meeting with one of my professors over a journalism project," Chris said, "why are you in Canada?"

"I wanted to surprise you," Stephanie told him, "but then when I couldn't find you I thought you would…be at home, so I was going to stop by your apartment and then we could spend the weekend together since neither one of us have classes on Fridays. I flew up this morning, I skipped classes today, no biggie."

"I'm just surprised to see you here," Chris said, walking over and kissing her. "I'm glad to see you though, you know I always love seeing you. Imagine my shock walking to my car and seeing you or thinking I saw you, for a second I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me."

"Nope, no tricks, it's really me," Stephanie said with a short laugh and an awkward shrug.

"You're the best girlfriend a guy could have," Chris said, kissing her again.

"Stephanie, hey!"

Stephanie and Chris looked over their shoulders and it was Shelly, the girl Stephanie had met earlier. God, was this the parking garage where _everyone_ parked their cars or something, could she not have parked somewhere more obscure and not in the middle of a damn traffic jam of people that she knew. Chris looked over at Stephanie when she saw the girl who had addressed her. His eyes narrowed and she averted her gaze back to the girl.

"Hey, Shelly," Stephanie said.

"This must be the boyfriend," Shelly looked to Chris appraisingly.

"Yeah, this is one in the same," Stephanie said awkwardly, wishing that Shelly would just go away and go away now. She didn't hate the girl, but it was dangerous talking to her because she knew what was probably going to come next. "We were just heading out though, you're probably heading out too."

"Unfortunately, no, just getting a book from my car. Lots of the grad courses are in the late afternoon so I'm stuck here for a while. Did you like that statistics course you audited?"

"Steph?" Chris asked, looking at her like she was crazy. What was his girlfriend up to?

"Yeah, it was interesting," Stephanie answered quickly. "We really should be going."

"I should too…oh, did you find Trish?" Shelly damned her by saying the one thing that she didn't want her to say. Now Chris's gaze turned dark and he glared at her, his face turning decidedly angrier by the second.

"No, I couldn't, maybe next time," Stephanie said weakly.

Shelly looked at her watch, "Damn it, I need to go, it was nice meeting you again, I hope that you'll decide to come here so we can hang out, I should give you my number, you can give me a call when you're in town if you want."

"Uh, sure," Stephanie said as Shelly quickly jotted her number and handed it to Stephanie. Shelly then walked away quickly leaving Chris and Stephanie alone again. "So…you're probably wondering what I was doing…"

"You weren't here to surprise me, you were here to find Trish and talk to her," Chris said, shaking his head. "I can't believe you, Stephanie. I can't believe you would do something like that. I can't believe you would try to interfere with this. It's not any of your business and it's not any of my business either."

"I know that! I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself. I couldn't just sit back and watch…I just wanted to help."

"You can't go around trying to fix everyone's problems," he hissed at her, aware that they were in a public place and not wanting to blow up at her here. "You have got to let Trish and Jay work out their problems on their own."

"I know, I didn't say anything to her that-" Stephanie closed her mouth and looked away. She'd told Shelly that she hadn't found Trish, but she'd opened her big mouth and now Chris had to know that she'd actually spoken to Trish.

"You talked to her?"

"I found her in another class and we went out to eat," Stephanie told him, looking at her feet. "I just wanted to talk to her, I didn't want to push her or anything. I just wanted to tell her that wrestling is a viable option and that Jay is really good at it and she would be extremely proud of him. That was _it_."

Chris sighed, "What am I going to do with you?"

"She went to his matches, Chris," Stephanie said. "The first one, she was there. She saw him when he fought against Adam. She didn't tell him she was there, but she was. She just needs a little push."

"You're nosy," he told her, but he couldn't stay mad at her when he loved her so much. He even loved that she so fiercely wanted Jay to be happy that she would fly to Canada, come onto campus and track her down. Was it crazy? Yes, but it was the brand of crazy that was so uniquely Stephanie.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't think I'd run into you…or Shelly," she told him with a sorry laugh.

"It's okay, maybe a push was what she needed, but from now on, we let them figure things out themselves?"

"Yes, we should," she said. "I really am here for the weekend though."

"Then let's make the best of it."

By the time Trish and Sofia knocked on his apartment door, he had deemed the apartment spotless. He was proud of the work he'd done and he threw open the door with a smile. Trish was carrying Sofia and the moment she saw her father, she reached for him. Jay grabbed her and kissed her cheek before leaning forward and kissing Trish's cheek. She smiled as he pulled away and then grabbed the groceries she'd set down beside her.

"I thought I could make spaghetti and meatballs," she said, setting the groceries on the counter, "with my famous garlic bread."

"I don't think I've eaten this well since you left," he told her and she laughed and peeked at him as he showered Sofia with kisses. "Hey, Sophie-bear, you want to go play in your room for a little bit."

"Okay!" Sofia exclaimed and Christian took her to her room and put her in front of all her toys before her before he went out into the kitchen again and looked at Trish, who was pulling various cooking tools out of the cupboards.

"Do you need any help?" he asked.

"I think I'm good, but sit, watch, keep me company," she said and he took a stool and sat at the counter and watched her. "So, I um, well, I was talking with someone today and they kind of made me start thinking…"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it did," she said, then she turned to him, "and I think I should start with a confession to you."

"A confession?" His mind went into overdrive. A confession? Had she slept with someone else? Was she divorcing him, had she put the divorce into motion? His brain only conjured up bad things, very, very bad things.

"Yeah, I mean, it's something I should have told you a long time ago."

"Just tell me," he implored her.

"I was there to watch your first match."


	15. Chapter 15

"You were…what?"

He didn't seem to understand so she repeated herself, "I was at your first match. I went, I know you didn't know, I didn't want you to know, I guess, but I was there anyways. You wanted me there…I could tell in your voice when you called me to tell me about the match."

"So why didn't you try to come find me?" he asked, obviously hurt that she hadn't even sought him out. He wanted her there, yes, but he would have loved to have known she was there when the nerves were reaching a fever pitch just before he'd crossed the curtain. Knowing she was there would have ebbed some of that fear.

"I guess…I just guess that I didn't want you to know."

"But why? I don't understand."

She doesn't really understand herself when she thinks about it. She knows he would have felt better knowing she was there, but part of her…maybe a large part of her almost wanted to punish him. She didn't blame him for their lives, but she found that she kind of blamed him for their separation even though she was the one that left. She knew it wasn't rational, but when had their lives ever really included anything rational.

"I just didn't want you to know," she told him, her voice a little sharper than it was before.

"I would have wanted to know, Trish," he said quietly, hoping she would understand the hurt flitting in his breast at the moment. "I would have wanted you to be there in my cheering section."

"As I understand it, you had quite the cheering section as it was." She didn't mean for that to come off as condescending, but as soon as it leaves her mouth, she can tell that it is and she's sorry for it. Jay just pulls away slightly when she reaches for his arm.

"They were my friends, Trish, they were there for me," Jay tells her, shaking his head. "You weren't."

"I was though, I wanted you to know."

"Yeah, now, now you wanted me to know, way after it happened," he busied himself in the kitchen. "I could have used your support, but I guess I'm not worthy of it because I'm not doing something that falls in line with what you want. I got paid for that match, you know and every match I've had since and most of that money has gone straight to Sophie. This job isn't just for fun and games, I'm helping her."

"I know," Trish said quietly. "I'm sorry, it wasn't the way it sounded."

"And those people are really good people. Adam has become one of my closest friends and so has Chris. You know he got us both that gig in that company. Do you also know that he arranged to have Vince McMahon, only one of the most powerful guys in the business, to come to our dinky wrestling school to check us out?"

"I didn't know that," Trish told him.

"He's helping us out and you have no right to act sarcastic that he and his girlfriend were there to cheer me on when you wouldn't. They're good people, Trish."

"I know they are," she said to him, watching as his hands fidgeted with a box of pasta. That was always a nervous habit of his. He would always fidget his hands and she would always grab them and still them in her own. She didn't think the gesture would garner much pleasure today though. "I met her…Stephanie."

"What?" Jay's head turned suddenly towards hers. "When did you meet her?"

"Today, this afternoon."

"What? How did that happen?" Jay asked. He couldn't think of any circumstance under which Stephanie would run into Trish. He knew Chris would've probably told Stephanie about his past, but Stephanie was supposed to be in Boston at school, not in Canada.

"She found me," Trish shrugged. "I don't know how she found me, but she did. She came up to me and asked if we could talk. She tried to explain to me…about everything, about the business, about the opportunities, she tried to get me to see what it was all about."

"So the only reason you wanted to see me tonight was because _she_ talked to you?"

Now he felt even more hurt than before. He'd hoped, vainly he now knew, that Trish had wanted to see him, had thought of this all on her own. He had thought, for a little while, that this could be the first step to getting her home, where she belonged, with him. He believed that maybe he could have both dreams: Trish, Sofia, and a dream career that he'd always wanted to have. Now it was bursting right before his very eyes like so many dreams he'd had before he'd gotten Trish pregnant.

"Not the _only_ reason," Trish tried to lessen the situation. "It wasn't the only reason. She got me thinking and then I called you. It wasn't like…it wasn't like I got up to use the phone when we were out and called you. I thought about it."

"Sure you did," he wanted to put the pasta away, wanted to put dinner away and tell Trish to get the hell out of here. He'd never been so mad at her before. Usually, when it came to her, she was the bright light in his life, the thing that made all that other hard stuff worthwhile, but right now, he didn't want to see her face.

To know that she was practically coerced into being here made her presence unbearable. It was like she wanted to be somewhere else and he was tethering her to him. He was tired of being something to be ashamed of because his dream wasn't something like being a doctor or a lawyer. His dream was his own and he was tired of feeling like he just could not have that dream without a set of hooks being set in his back, pulling him farther and farther away from it.

"I wanted to be here and talk to you about it!" she cried, trying to get through to him. She had never seen him so angry before, so filled with venom and she didn't like it. She wanted her other Jay back, the gentle one with that smile that would always turn into a cute smirk. "I wanted to understand, see it from your point of view."

"So you could condemn it?" He was beyond talking now and just wanted so much to yell at her. He wanted her to go away and she wouldn't.

"I don't want to condemn you, Jay, that's never what this has been about. I never wanted it to get this far."

"I think we should file for that divorce," the words were out of his mouth before he could really think about them. Trish's eyes widened, but he didn't look over at her. He didn't want to see his face and the words even surprised him. He coughed and set the box down on the counter. The fidgeting stopped.

"Jay," she whispered.

"Trish, just go, okay."

"No," she told him firmly. "No, I'm not going to let you just say something like that and then order me to leave."

"This is my apartment," he argued, "so yes, I can ask you to leave."

"No, this is _our_ apartment," she corrected him.

"Not since you left," he countered. It hadn't been theirs since she left. It was too lonely for it to be theirs. There were too many nights where he stared up at the ceiling alone to have this apartment still be theirs. She lived with her parents now and that was her home; that was where she belonged.

"Don't try and pull that on me," she said. "Jay, if you want a divorce, you can have your divorce, but not before we talk about it and what the implications mean."

"I'm going to Mexico," he said instead. "Chris has some jobs there and he said he could get us into some of the more decent promotions down there. He has a lot of connections. He's really been around and he knows a lot of people. I'm still not sure how he knows them, but he does. He can get me some good money. I'll send everything that I don't need for living expenses back to you and Sophie. I don't want her to go without."

"Jay, you can't just hop on a plane to Mexico," Trish reasoned. "That's foolhardy."

"No, it's not, I've got work down there waiting for me. Chris said that's my best shot at the big leagues. Chris said there's also good work in Japan, but I don't want to be that far away from Sophie."

"Mexico isn't close."

"It's not, but it's closer and I want to provide for her. Chris said it's never too long, a couple months here and there and you've got a good thing going. If I can make a name for myself, I can get noticed by WCW or the WWF and that would mean steady work and a real contract, one that could provide a lot of money for Sophie."

"Jay, please-"

"I'm doing this, Trish. I've spent a lot of time thinking about it and you don't want the same things that I want. You coming to one match isn't going to change that, change what you think about what I'm doing. So you know, I say go for that doctorate, go be a doctor and I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm saying that because I believe in you."

"I don't want that without you."

"Trish, think about it for a second. Think about us for a second," he laughed humorlessly. "We had Sophie too young, we both know that, but she altered us forever. That's not a bad thing in and of itself, it made us grow up, but there's still a lot of the kids that we had to leave behind. We thought our future _had_ to be together because we were naïve and young and that was what made sense. You have a kid, you get married, that was how we thought of it, the 'solution,' but we're older now, we're more mature and we have to realize that maybe that means growing apart. We'll never know if we were really meant to be together because we were forced together by Sophie."

"We would have," she told him, her voice even lower than a whisper now. "I believe in you."

"Thank you, I needed to hear that."

"I want to be with you, Jay," she told him. "I don't want you in Mexico though, I don't want you away where I can't have you."

"And isn't that the problem. This will probably be my life now. When I get to the big times and I _will_, I'm sure of it, I'm going to be traveling all the time and where is that going to leave us, huh? Trish, I love you, you know this, but maybe for now, this is how it has to be."

"You don't believe that," she said with such conviction that he has to laugh. He went around the counter and stood in front of her before he leaned down and kissed her. She responded immediately and he pulled away before it could become more involved.

"Of course I don't really, but we're kind of at that intersection thing, remember, we talked about it in Mr. Phipp's English class, how you have to choose and sometimes you have to just wing it and go down whatever direction you're in. Maybe we need to go in the separate directions for a while and I need to go to Mexico and you need to go to medical school and a some point, we'll both maybe come to the same intersection again."

"And if we don't?" she asked.

"Then I guess we just don't."


	16. Chapter 16

Stephanie laughed as she sat at the counter in Chris's apartment. He was making dinner for the two of them plus Adam and Jay, who were also coming over for an impromptu dinner party, but she was keeping him company while occasionally coming over to help stir something or chop something up. Chris kept glancing back at her and making faces. She giggled at them while eating some carrot sticks he'd cut up for some snacks. As she was munching on one, he came over and leaned over the counter, kissing her briefly.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"For being the best thing to ever happen to me," Chris told her, his eyes sparkling with his confession. She scrunched up her nose, like she didn't know how to respond to that, so he continued. "I was talking with Jay the other day about Trish and everything, and it occurred to me how lucky I have it with you."

"Do you now?" Stephanie flirted with him.

"I do," he nodded, "and I know I'm lucky that your dad is who he is because it made you love what I do. I don't think I could handle being with a girl who didn't want me to wrestle."

"You also want to be a rock star though," she pointed out playfully, knowing full well that being a rock star was just as difficult as becoming a wrestler.

"Yeah, like that would have changed a lot of girls' minds," he joked with her.

"Are you kidding me?" she scoffed, rolling her eyes a little. "If you went up to a girl and you said, 'Hey, I'm in a band,' you would have them falling all over you. You don't know your own appeal. If you would take my father's offer after you get back from Japan, you'd realize this."

"Stephanie, I told you, I want to do this on my own, you know that."

"I have this feeling you're going to go to WCW just for the sake of going there though," Stephanie sulked, pressing her chin into her hand. "I know you, Chris, I know you're going to be put out if you take anyone's help because you have a complex."

"I do _not_ have a complex," Chris argued, shaking his head while he checked on the roast in the oven.

"You do," she argued back. "You absolutely have a complex. The way you think is that if you take any kind of break or any kind of help from me or my family you're selling out or taking the easy way out and not _earning_ it as you like to put it. I'm not saying don't go to Mexico or don't go to Japan, I think you should, I think you can learn a lot over there, but once you come back, there are really only two choices if you want to make a huge name for yourself, I mean, there's ECW and you can gain from there even though I've heard Heyman is a jackass, but then there's WCW and the WWF and I have a feeling, you're going to go to WCW just because you don't want to accept my family's influence."

"Stephanie…"

"Chris," she said, tilting her head down and peering at him over her nose. "I _know_ you. I know how you think and I know you would accept an offer from WCW even though my father has had an offer on the table since he accepted you weren't using me. Now we just all think you're too stubborn for your own good."

"I want this on my own, of my own merits. When I get back from Japan, then we'll decide from there."

"We?"

"Yes, we, because by the time we get back from Japan, we'll be engaged."

"How awkward is that going to be, oh, hello, Chris Jericho, this is Eric Bischoff and I'd love to offer you a contract, oh, your wife, yes, bring her along as well, then I go and I come with you and bam, Stephanie McMahon," Stephanie said to him.

Chris cleared his throat, "Stephanie Irvine."

Stephanie made a face, "I'm just saying it'll be weird, here you are, this wrestler and yet, you're married to me."

"So maybe I just shouldn't marry you," he jokingly shrugged, going back to the stove where he was sautéing some green beans. "I mean, wouldn't _that_ be the easiest way to get rid of all my problems."

"Oh, very funny," Stephanie said, jumping off her stool and coming around the counter to hug him around the waist. "If it comes to you going to WCW, you know I would be supportive of you while secretly hoping you'll get fired so you can just join the company. I mean, it's going to be pretty awful when we won't be able to see each other."

"What do you mean not see each other?" Chris asked, turning to look at Stephanie a little as she reached over and stirred the mashed potatoes.

"I mean when I take my position with the company," Stephanie told him like he should know this already and he really should because she'd mentioned it before. "I have every intention of joining the company immediately after we come back and as far as I know, my dad might actually want me to be an on-screen character and in that case, I'm going to be doing my own traveling."

Chris's brow furrowed at the thought and he abandoned his green beans for a moment. "So you're telling me we might not even see each other after we're married? Wait, what does this do for us getting married at all?"

"What do you mean?" Stephanie asked, confused by his line of questioning.

"I mean, if we're not going to see each other, say I do go to WCW, say I do want to prove that I can get to the top without your help or your family's help—"

"Wait, is that what you want to try to do? Is that why you won't sign with my dad, you want to like, what main event in WCW just to prove you don't need special treatment or something because Chris, we wouldn't give you special treatment."

"You already are."

"By offering you a job, I don't think so."

"I just think it's not great that we're going to get married, hypothetically speaking, and never see each other. You'll be traveling, I'll be traveling and then what? We catch five minutes together at the airport?" Chris asked her.

"You knew this was going to happen," she pulled away to stare him down. "You knew I was going to do something with the company after I graduated. You didn't really expect me to be a housewife, did you? That would bore me to death!"

"I just thought you'd take a desk job at Titan and so we'd have a home base in Connecticut. I've never had a problem with moving there," he said. "Wow…we have got so much to think about before we get married."

"Yes, but we're not even engaged so we have time," she said, "You still want to marry me, right?"

"Of course I do," he kissed her. "I haven't thought about anything else since I fell in love with you. I want to be with you and we'll talk the stuff out. If it comes down to joining another company because I want to prove to people I don't need my wife's last name to help me get to the top or spending time with my wife, then you win, hands down."

Stephanie blushed a little bit and kissed him hard, pushing him against the stove. He pulled them away from the open flames quickly before something on his body caught on fire. When they pulled away, she smiled up at him. "Do you think things were this hard between Trish and Jay? I mean, they're married, do you think they had any time at all to think about how their lives were changing?"

"I don't know, they were really young when they had their daughter so it was probably just…I don't know, spur-of-the-moment, try to make it as legit as they possibly could," Chris shrugged, staring over her shoulder. "I mean, I bet they were really scared."

"Yeah, with a baby coming and being so young," Stephanie said. "You can tell Jay is really broken up about this. I wonder if he's really sure he wants to go to Mexico."

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door and Stephanie went over to answer it while Chris went back to checking on his food. Stephanie opened the door and greeted Adam and Jay warmly, giving them each a hug. She led them inside Chris's apartment, taking their coats and putting them in the closet while they settled in.

"Thanks for having us over, man," Adam said. "I don't think I've had a real home-cooked meal since…wait, my mom lives in Toronto, I'd like to see you even try to keep up with what she can do with an oven."

"Chris is making a roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and I made an apple pie for dessert," Stephanie told them. "How are you guys? Are you excited to go to Mexico next week?"

"Hell yeah I am," Adam nodded. "I seriously want to start getting in some wrestling hours. I'm sick of being a rookie, I want to be a veteran and the only way to do that is to have some matches. I'm stoked to see the different style down there too. Plus, you can't go wrong with those little Mexican cuties."

"Keep your dirty talk to yourself," Stephanie told him.

"Chris, man, are you going to really be whipped the rest of your life?" Adam joked with him as Stephanie pretended to strangle him. He played along and shook along with her. "Okay, okay, Steph is awesome, we all know it."

"She is awesome," Chris said, winking at his girlfriend.

"Well, one of my other goals is to get this man laid," Adam jerked his finger towards Jay, who was sitting there, trying not to look sullen, but it wasn't exactly working out for him. "I think that's what he needs to get over the heartbreak."

"I'm not heartbroken."

"Dude," Adam looked at him, staring at him really, "you look like your cat just died or something. I mean, you look terrible. You're obviously absolutely heartbroken over this chick and I wish I could see her to see if she's even worth it."

"Adam!" Stephanie admonished him.

"It's a joke, Stephanie," Adam said. "Look, man, when we go to Mexico, you have to get your head in the game. Tell us again, was it or was it not you that said maybe you guys were like, not at the same place anymore?"

"It was me," Jay said, "but I don't know, maybe I didn't mean it. I miss her, I want to be with her, but it's just like, she can't accept me for what I am or what I want to be. I have a dream, I have something I want to pursue and I don't think Sophie should keep me from trying for that dream, especially when the end result could be making enough money to support her. I want the best for her, sue me."

"I don't think that's a bad goal," Chris said. "I think that's a great goal actually. If I were in your position, I would want to do everything my power to make sure my kid was provided for in every way."

"Yeah, I want that, if it means I have to travel, I have to travel," Jay sighed. "I wish it didn't have to be that way, but it does."

"You're doing it for her," Stephanie said solemnly.

"I know, that's what's making me go, giving me the drive. If I didn't have that, I probably would stay. The ball's in Trish's court I guess," Jay mused. "I want her to accept me, but it's up to her what she wants to do."

"Well, you know," Stephanie decided she needed to throw the guy a bone and it wasn't a bad bone either because she knew it to be true. "If you get some more experience, I'm sure that you could be hired by the WWF, the both of you, actually. I know that Vince really took a liking to you two when he came to visit. I heard him mention both of your names."

"Are you serious?" Jay asked, taking a few steps towards her.

Chris was staring at Stephanie, but she ignored him. Her father had mentioned them and if worse came to worse, she could get jobs for them, but they'd have to get better in the ring. She wasn't stupid and didn't just blindly go out and have her father hire her friends. She wanted to make sure they could actually make a living from wrestling and not wind up as jobbers. It was her neck she was sticking out and even though her father loved her and would never disown her, she didn't want to disappoint him either.

"Yes, I'm serious, I'm not saying you're ready," Stephanie told the both of them, "but I think going to Mexico would benefit the both of you, maybe some other North American territories. Once you get to Mexico, get your name out there, you're going to get more offers if you're good enough and with experience under your belt, I think it would fast-track you to the WWF."

"That would be amazing," Adam said under his breath. "Us in the WWF, that would be so crazy! What about you, Chris? Why the hell haven't you taken up the offer with the company yet? We all know it's on the table."

"Personal reasons," Chris said tersely. "I think Stephanie is right though, with the right kind of experience, you guys could be really good in the WWF."

Jay thought about it. Him in the biggest wrestling company in the world, it was a dream come true, or would be when he made it happen. If he did, there was no way Trish couldn't be proud of him. Plus, his brain thought of the dollar signs that would bring into his life and the things he could provide for Sophie. He had to make Mexico count. He had to get his name out there, he had to have the best matches he could possibly have.

He had to thrive.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and everything, everyone. Hope you enjoy the chapter! :D

* * *

He wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to pack.

He kept looking at his closet and wondering what to bring and what not to bring. He'd never been out of Canada before so traveling all the way to Mexico seemed like the biggest deal of his life outside of getting married and having Sofia. His suitcase stared at him blankly, empty save for a couple pairs of shoes. His duffel bag, sitting next to the suitcase, was decidedly fuller. That bag contained all his wrestling gear.

Chris had hooked him up with someone who made wrestling clothes so he had three new pairs of wrestling tights. All he had to do was pay for the fabric and a small fee for the labor and he was ready to go. He'd designed them himself and he thought they looked great. He couldn't wait to wear them out to the ring. He smiled as he thought about them. He didn't know why, but having his own specially made wrestling tights somehow made him feel professional, like everything up to this point had been amateur.

He knew it wasn't true technically, he'd been wrestling a few gigs here and there, but this was his first true test. He was going to be in front of foreign audiences, people who had no clue who he was or what he could do. There were a ton of Mexican wrestlers who were beloved in their country, and here he was, coming in as a foreigner, and he was going to have to win these people over. He would have to use his skills, the ones he had seemingly just learned, and use them to the best of his ability.

He sat down heavily on his bed. He was psyching himself out now. He was starting to think of the negative instead of the positives. This was going to be good for him, he reassured himself. This was something he'd wanted for a long time. He was going to get experience under his belt, he was going to get his name out there. Hopefully this would lead to other opportunities in other places, and if Stephanie could deliver on her words, he would be in the WWF before he knew it, and with that came a steady income, with that came things for Sofia, anything her heart desired. His daughter was going to get the best of everything, he told himself.

He stood up, now with more resolve and went back to his closet, grabbing a few shirts and bringing them over to his bed. He started to fold them, placing them into his suitcase neatly. He was going to be down in Mexico for three weeks so he had to make sure he brought enough clothes, though he hoped they would have access to a Laundromat while down there. He didn't want to wear the same underwear over and over again. It was as he was putting the last of his t-shirts into the suitcase when there was a knock at the door. He wasn't expecting anyone so he went to the door curiously. He looked through the peephole and saw Trish standing there. The speed with which he opened the door could not be measured with human devices.

"Trish, what are you doing here?" he asked, nearly breathless just from seeing her. He didn't expect to see her here. He'd planned to go to her parent's place early the next morning to say goodbye to Sofia so to see her actually here was a huge surprise. He looked around but didn't see Sofia, which bummed him out a little bit.

"I didn't bring Sophie, she was taking her nap when I left. I would have brought her if she'd been awake," Trish told him softly after noticing his darting eyes.

"That's too bad," Jay said with a sigh. "I'll see her tomorrow morning though, it's okay…so again, what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to come talk to you before you left tomorrow," Trish told him. "I figured you'd be in a rush tomorrow, and I'm sure you would want to spend most of the time tomorrow with Sophie."

That was true, "You're right, I probably would have," he told her. "I was just packing if you want to come into the bedroom."

"Okay," Trish nodded, her ponytail bobbing up and down. Jay walked back to the bedroom with Trish close at his heels. He went back to his suitcase while she took a seat at the head of the bed, her back leaning against the headboard as she watched him. "Are you nervous?"

He laughed, "You have no idea."

Trish nodded slowly, "I'm sure you'll do great."

"Because you would know what I look like when I'm wrestling," he said sarcastically then cringed at his own tone. She was trying to be nice, and he didn't have to snap at her like that, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I am nervous, I'm just taking it out on you."

"It's okay," but her voice was soft, almost tentative. "I just wanted to spend some time with you. I know that things between us are weird right now, but I do still love you, Jay, you know I do. I just…I do want you to succeed."

"Thanks."

"I just…I don't even know what to say to you anymore," she covered her face with her hands for a moment before shaking it off. "I'm sorry, I really wanted to come here and have some profound words and they aren't coming."

"It's fine, you never have to have anything profound to say," he said, realizing that sounded odd, so he decided to change the subject. "How is school going? Are you doing well? I hope you are."

"Yeah, things have been going great," Trish nodded, "I actually…this is going to sound absolutely crazy, but there was some recruiting thing the other day, it was like a job fair, I was just walking around and this talent agency was there and said that I was beautiful and I should take up modeling."

"Are you serious?" he asked her. "Wow, really?"

"I was just as shocked as you were," Trish told him, "I went there to see if there were some summer internships or jobs I could get, you know, for some added income. I was hoping I could get a job at a blood bank or something like that, something in the medical field. I don't even know if this is legit or not, but you know, it's kinda cool, right?"

"That's amazing," he told her, "you know you're gorgeous, I'm surprised this hasn't happened before."

She blushed, her head ducking down, "I don't know if I'll do anything with the card though."

"You should," he urged her. "I know modeling isn't some dream, but hey, it's money, right?"

"Yeah," she said, "you know, I get why you're doing this, I mean, it's been your dream for so long. I remember on our third date, when we went to homecoming, all you could talk about that night was Starrcade. I _get_ it."

"You just don't like it."

"I just don't understand it is all," she admitted. "I don't get the need or the hunger for it, but that's me. I love you, Jay, you know I've loved you and only you in my entire life. I know you think that I'm not being supportive, but I'm really, really trying."

"Thank you, I really do appreciate that," he told her.

"I'm going to miss you, I already do miss you," Trish told him with a sigh. "I just…I hate that this is going to take you away from us, you get why I feel that way, right? I mean, you get why this is as big a deal for me as it is for you? Getting pregnant was never in the plan. I never wanted to be the girl in high school who got pregnant. I mean, the stares were enough to want to be home-schooled. Everything in our lives went so fast, so when we settled down, I guess we'd just…settle down, and I know that's not even fair to think that because we're young."

"You have dreams too, Trish, I would never want to get in the way of those, I would be as supportive as I could."

"I know you would, which makes me feel like a total asswipe," Trish admitted. "I want to be that person for you."

"Trish…"

"I love you, Jay, I don't want to lose that, but I feel like you're slipping away."

"Trish, I'm not going anywhere that I'm not coming back from, you know."

She wanted to believe that, she really did, but she could already see him pulling away in a lot of ways. She knew it was her fault too; she was the one who left after all, she was the catalyst, something she was really starting to regret. If she hadn't left, but she just didn't understand the wrestling thing, and she might not ever really understand it. All she knew was that it was taking him away from her. He was getting all these new friends, going all these new places, and now it wasn't even a matter of the wrestling, it was the matter of him leaving her behind, like she was being left in the dust. She was going to spend the next three weeks being the one thing she'd feared most when she saw the two pink lines on the pregnancy test, being a single mother.

She tried to always have the utmost faith in Jay, but she had to admit, if even to just herself, when she'd found out she was pregnant, she was afraid Jay was going to leave her in a lurch. It always seemed to happen that way, but Jay was nothing like those other guys, and she had to count on that still being the truth now. "Would you mind if Sophie and I stayed here while you were gone?"

"This is your home too, you don't have to ask to stay here, but I thought you were doing okay at your parent's place."

"It's too stifling sometimes," Trish told him, "you know, with my mom and everything."

Jay nodded, "Yeah, I get it, well, you can of course stay here, but what are you going to do with Sophie while you're at classes?"

"Oh, the university has a daycare, I enrolled her a few days ago," Trish answered, "I guess I just want to feel close to you even when you're far away."

"Trishy," he said with so much emotion, she thought she might crumble. She shrugged helplessly and he came around the bed to sit in front of her, grabbing one of her hands and holding it in both of his. "I'm coming back."

"Are you?" she asked, and he furrowed his brow.

"I'm not going to live there."

"But this is where it starts," she told him, "like you said, crossroads. This is where it begins. You're going to go to Mexico, after that, someplace else, and you'll make it because I know you will, and you'll be traveling all the time, and I'll never see you."

"That's not true," he told her, "that's not true at all."

"I asked Stephanie," Trish said, "I called her, I asked her how long guys would be gone on the road. I figured she would know because of Chris and everything, that's his name, right, Chris?"

"Yeah, that's his name."

"She said the travel was like 300 days a year," Trish told him, "_300_ days a year? That barely leaves you any time to come home, and when you're home, you'll probably be tired, worn out, and you'll try to fit so many things in that short amount of time, and I'm losing you. Right now, right this second, I'm losing you."

"No, no, you're not," he scooted closer to you. "You are not going to lose me, Sophie is not going to lose me, okay? Wherever you are, whatever happens, I'm not abandoning you. It's going to be difficult, but we will managed, we managed when it was Sophie, right?"

"Jay…"

"We'll manage," he looked her straight in the eye.

"I wanted to bring you something too," she said, "so you could put it in your suitcase." She went for her purse, rooting around in it a little before bringing out a small stuffed turtle.

"Wendall? Why are you bringing me Wendall?" Jay wondered. Wendall was one of Sofia's stuffed animals. They'd told Sofia the turtle's name was Yertle, after the Dr. Seuss book, but she couldn't pronounce it correctly, every time it came out sounding like Wendall, so Wendall it became. He wasn't Sofia's favorite stuffed animal, but she did like him.

"I asked Sofia to pick one of her stuffed animals so that Daddy would have a piece of her when he went away, and this is the one she picked for you, I wanted to make sure you had it," she said, pressing it into his hands. "We both wanted you to have it…so you had a little bit of home with you." He looked down at the turtle, then back up at his wife.

Before he could blink, her lips were on his.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Sorry for the long wait between updates, I had a wicked case of writer's block for this one, and really, the only cure for that is to push through it, so I did. This chapter ended up going somewhere I didn't even expect, but we're just going to roll with it. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and your feedback would be delightful, thanks! :)

* * *

She pulled away first. He wasn't about to, not when his wife was kissing him, not after missing her for so long. He would have been content to kiss her for a good, long while. In fact, he would have kissed her all night if he could, well, not just kiss her, but he would have been more than happy to have her here all night, but before he could think about what this was, she was pulling away and he was trying to pull her back. She didn't let him though, pushing her palms against his chest.

"What was that?" Jay whispered, needing to know what that kiss was to her.

"I couldn't send you off without something to remember me by," Trish said coyly, and Jay opened his eyes to look down at her. "I love you. I love you so much that sometimes I don't even know if I could ever love someone else."

"What does that mean?" Jay asked, hoping it meant she'd come back to him, be supportive of him, want what he wanted. He wasn't asking her to give him the world, but a little understanding would go a long way.

"I'm not sure," Trish said, and Jay sighed. That wasn't the answer he was hoping for, and she could tell she'd said the wrong thing, and she wanted to correct herself so he didn't get the wrong idea because she knew he was going to start getting the wrong idea pretty soon. "I'm sorry, that didn't come out the way I wanted it to. All I'm saying is that…it's hard not loving you, not that I haven't ever not loved you, it's just hard being away from you."

"So why be away from me at all then?" Jay asked.

"That's the same question I've been asking myself for weeks now," Trish said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess…I guess I just didn't know how to react to this news. It's like, I want to feel secure in our life, and I don't, not with this. But then I think about the alternative, and it's not exactly the best feeling either. I wan you to be happy though, and I know this is making you happy. And it seems like you've made some good friends—"

"They've been really great," Jay told her. "You would really like them if you spent time with them. I know you've spoken with Stephanie, and she's a really cool chick. I know you think that she's different from you because of our situation, but she knows a lot about the wrestling business, way more than you would expect."

"Oh believe me, I know," Trish told him with a laugh. "She's actually really nice, and I would like to meet your friends. I guess I just saw all this responsibility, and it kind of felt like you were trying to get out of it by doing this. But I've been thinking, and you're not. I still wish you didn't have to go to Mexico though."

"It's not going to be forever, that's all I can promise you," he told her, "I want you, Trish. I've never loved anyone either, and when I married you, it wasn't just because you were pregnant. I still could have been in Sophie's life even if we didn't get married."

"I know you would have. I want to try and do this again. While you're gone, is it okay if Sophie and I move back in here. My house is stifling me, my parents are stifling me," Trish said. "They agreed to let me come back here and still pay for my school since they know you're going to Mexico."

"Great," Jay said drolly, thinking about how his in-laws were probably glad to be rid of him. He was sure they would see this as an opportunity to get Trish farther away from him.

"I don't care what they think, you know I never have."

"I bet they think I'm the scum of the earth for wanting to be a lowly wrestler, right?" Jay asked her. She averted his eyes, and he knew what the truth was in that instant. "That's what I figured. I swear, I will never please them."

"They're just still unhappy with how everything turned out," Trish shook her head, "but it's not about them. It's always been about us, you know that. They are nothing in this relationship. I want to be with you. I hate being without you, and I'm going to try to be more open-minded about this wrestling thing. No, I'm sorry, not a wrestling thing, your wrestling career."

"You're the best," he framed her face with his hands. "You're the absolute best thing to ever happen to me besides Sophie."

"And don't you forget it when you're down there in Mexico," she told him. "I'm not saying I'm totally okay with this, but on a trail basis, I think we can definitely work with it. I want you to be happy, and it's selfish of me to expect you to just be happy here with me, and not to do your own thing."

"Thank you, I know we have a lot to work on, but I'm glad that you're willing to work on it with me," Jay said, running his hand down her face. "That's all I really wanted. I know this is going to be hard, but I'm going to relish in it."

"I'm going to go back to the house and get Sophie and our things. My parents don't have to know that you're still here. I never told them _when_ you were leaving. Is it okay if I bring everything back over?"

"Are you kidding me?" Jay scoffed. "I would love that!"

Trish grinned and leaned up to kiss him. Even on her tiptoes, she couldn't reach his lips, but he bent down and kissed her. "Okay, we'll be back, then we can just spend time as a family."

"Oh wait," Jay frowned. "Adam was supposed to come over and we were going to have dinner and plan our itinerary for tomorrow. It's okay, I can just call and cancel on him, I'll see him tomorrow anyways, and we've got the flight."

Trish gave him a slightly shy look, "I'd like to meet your friends."

"Are you sure? I mean, I am going away tomorrow."

Trish nodded, "I want to become a part of this life. I don't want you to feel like you have to keep it separate from me. I'd like to become whatever this is, and I don't want you to feel ashamed for what you want to do. I think I've made you feel that enough, haven't I?"

"You just didn't understand," Jay brushed off her remorse. He knew Trish better than anyone. He knew she was probably internally hating herself for this, and he didn't want that for her. When she'd gotten pregnant with Sofia, she'd done the same exact thing.

He could remember all her recriminations after she'd told him about the pregnancy. She'd apologized over and over again, stating that it was her fault, that it was all her fault. She'd sobbed into his chest, blaming herself, saying she'd ruined their future. His heart had broken as she continually berated herself for her self-imposed villainy. He'd spent the night reassuring her that it wasn't her fault, that they both played their part, that this was on their heads. Even now, she'd never quite gotten over that trait.

He didn't want to leave on a sour note, and his wife, his lovely, wonderful wife was trying her best to be supportive. He didn't want it in her head that she was to blame for any of what happened between them. She wasn't. She just didn't understand, but she was going to try now, and it was probably more than he deserved.

"But—"

"No buts," he told her, shaking his head. "No time for that. You go get my daughter and your things, and I'll start rooting through our tons of menus and order some takeout food for us."

"Great," Trish smiled and then leaned in to give him one more kiss, giggling as she pulled away. Jay bit his lip to keep from shouting in happiness as the door closed behind her. Maybe it was the fact he was leaving that really prompted her to accept what he wanted to be, but at this point, he didn't care what it was. She was back with him, the only cruel part was that he was leaving tomorrow.

After he narrowed down their dinner choices to a couple places, he found he really had nothing to do. He would be packing, but Trish was always better at that stuff, and he could have her help him because she always knew what to pack. So he sat there, tapping his fingers against his legs, waiting for the door to open again. Doing anything else at the moment just seemed utterly useless. The door finally opened and the first thing he saw was Sofia running towards him, her eyes sparkling as she stretched out her arms towards him.

"Daddy!" she yelled in his direction.

He scooped her up into his arms and kissed her cheeks repeatedly. "Hey there, Sophie-bear, I missed you."

"I did too!" Sofia threw her arms around his neck, holding on tightly. He just held her to him, remembering the way she felt in his arms, memorizing it so he could remember it while he was away. He knew it was only for a few weeks, but being away from Sofia and Trish was going to be torturous, so he had to get in all the memories he could right now.

"You look so pretty," he told her sweetly, and she smiled at that as Trish came over and hugged him as well. He wrapped his free arm around them, and closed his eyes. Why did it have to be so hard leaving these two behind?

"Am I interrupting anything?" a new voice asked. Jay opened his eyes and saw Adam standing the door awkwardly.

"No, not at all," Jay told him, nodding him inside. "So you should probably meet these two girls."

"Let me take a wild guess, Trish and Sofia, right?" Adam stepped further into the apartment and stuck his hand towards Trish. She reached out and shook it, giving him a smile. Adam found himself returning it even though he should be mad at this woman for toying with his friend's feelings. Still, Jay looked really happy at the moment, so he would reserve judgment.

"That's right," Jay told him. "They're actually staying here while I'm gone, so they came over tonight, and we're calling in for dinner."

"Cool, I've wanted to meet you," Adam said, "Jay's just talked a lot about you and I figured at some point, we should meet."

"I know he hasn't, I know you probably know things haven't been great for us," Trish said, trying to find the right words to say that wouldn't make this man hate her. She could tell by the distrustful look in his eyes that Adam knew what was going on with them. She wondered briefly how it had come about. Was Jay just telling everyone or did he trust this Adam guy? Knowing Jay, he probably trusted him. "I'm trying to make things better."

"I like Jay," Adam said, throwing his friend a smile, "he was probably the first guy at the wrestling school that I actually liked. I know when I have a friend for life, and if you're in his life, I want to know you. I don't hold grudges."

"Thank you," Trish said.

"Why don't you two get to know each other while I order up some food, pizza okay?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, that's cool, you know what I like," Adam said.

"And you know what I like," Trish added as Christian walked over to the kitchen area. "So you're a wrestler?" she asked Adam.

"Yeah, I am, or I will be, no, I am, I am," Adam said, "Jay and I have been working matches together, it's been fun."

"I'd love to see you guys sometime," Trish said sincerely. "I want to know everything about this sport. I want to be one of the gang I guess you could say."

Inside her head, the wheels were already starting to turn.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating, but thank you so much for the reviews, reads, and everything, hope you enjoy the chapter! :)

* * *

"I love your bed."

"It loves you back," Chris said, turning over on his side. "It really, really loves you back."

Stephanie giggled and pulled the covers over her head, "Don't say cute things, you're going to make me want to do you, and I need to eat, my stomach is growling, plus you promised to take me out shopping for some things. I need to start shopping for Japan."

"We're not leaving for months!" he protested.

"I know," Stephanie pulled the covers back down, "but it never hurts to start getting ready. I want an entire new wardrobe. My parents told me that they were going to give me a pretty hefty check when I graduate."

"Spoiled," Chris rolled his eyes.

"It's for the wedding," Stephanie said, "but little do they know that we're going to do it low-key so I don't need that much money. Part of it is going to go for our new place in Connecticut, which is another thing we have to start looking for."

"Great, with your family, they're going to want us to buy a huge mansion, right?"

"No, we're only the two of us, a nice apartment or small house will do," Stephanie said, "it's their way of making sure we get off on the right foot. It's a nice gesture, and I'm going to take it because once I start working for the company, I don't want them giving me money ever again."

"I know, you self-sufficient woman, you," he told her, leaning over to kiss her. "I still can't believe you already want to go shopping."

"I'm excited," Stephanie giggled, "I just can't believe I get to go to Japan. It's the most exciting thing I've ever done. Plus, good things are going to happen on the trip. I don't know _how_ they're going to happen, but I know it's coming."

"I at least have to keep some things a surprise," Chris told her as his phone rang. "Who would be calling this early?"

"Early? Chris, it's nearly 11," she told him. She reached over him and to the phone as Chris slapped her butt a little bit. "Chris Irvine's residence, Stephanie speaking."

"Oh good, I was hoping I could talk to you, oh, I'm sorry, this is Trish, Jay's wife, I don't know if you remember me…"

"Of course I remember you," Stephanie said, "how did you know I was here though? I don't live with Chris." Chris looked at her questioningly, but she just shrugged him off, pushing him away slightly.

"Actually, I just called Chris's number hoping he could connect me to you, I guess I just got lucky," Trish told her, "Is this a bad time or anything? I really didn't want to bug you, but I was hoping I could ask you a favor. You said when we met that you could, well, that you wanted to help me get to know wrestling better, and I was wondering if that offer was still on the table."

"Yes!" Stephanie exclaimed, probably a little too loudly as she amended the tone of her voice, "I'm sorry, I mean, yes, it's definitely still on the table. I would love to help you get into wrestling. I really think you'd enjoy it."

"It's just, I thought with Jay gone that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to really get to know what he's doing. I worry for him when he's not around, and I thought this would give me something to do. Plus, it would let me see what he does, you know, learn some moves, I mean, the names and everything. I would hate to inconvenience you though."

"You wouldn't be at all," Stephanie told her, "actually, it's kind of perfect, Chris has a match tonight, and you can come with me, and you can really see what this life is like."

"Wow, that would be great, would it be alright to bring my daughter or should I just bring myself?"

"For the first time, I'd just bring yourself," Stephanie explained to her. "That way you can see if it's something you want to bring your daughter to, her name is Sofia, right?"

"Yeah, Sophie for short," Trish explained. "Um, I'm staying back in my apartment with Jay, so you can come over whenever you want to pick me up."

"We'll be there at six," Stephanie told her, "we can get a bite to eat before the show."

"I'd like that, thanks, Stephanie."

"Not a problem," Stephanie said. They said their goodbyes before hanging up. Stephanie turned to Chris and clapped her hands excitedly. "That was Trish, she wants to learn more about what Jay does. This is great, he's going to be so happy, and I'm sure she'll love it."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," Chris told his girlfriend. "She might not, and we should prepare for that."

"Oh whatever," Stephanie waved off his statement, "She'll love it, I'm sure of it."

"Okay, but still…be cautious."

Stephanie hooked her arm through Trish's as they walked backstage behind Chris. "I usually don't stay back here very long, just enough to say goodbye and good luck to Chris. A lot of guys will rib other guys because they bring their girlfriends, but don't mind those guys, they're not getting any so they just do that out of jealousy."

Trish laughed. She liked Stephanie a lot. She was just the type of person Trish would hang out with in real life. It gave her hope that she could come to terms with Jay and his traveling. If Stephanie could do it so seamlessly, maybe she could too. She didn't want to lose Jay, and if this was his passion, she had to embrace it as much as she can. She admitted to herself she wasn't doing a lot to help him before, but that was when she was still scared. Now that Jay was getting out there, getting work, the picture was starting to become clearer.

"So you just say good luck and that's it?" Trish wondered.

"Pretty much," Stephanie said as they stopped near the men's locker room. "End of the road."

Chris turned to them, "I'll see you guys afterwards, we'll go out or something, yeah?"

"If you're up for it," Stephanie leaned up to kiss him. "Good luck, I know you're going to have a great match, and be safe out there, got it?"

"I'm always safe," he told her with a wink. "Promise to tell me how I do, honestly?"

"I always do," she winked back at him. "Do you know if you're going to win or not?"

"I know about as much as you do," Chris said, "but knowing the booker, I'll probably win. He seems to like me, that's why he keeps booking me for the show."

"Good, I like it better when you win," Stephanie said, patting his stomach. "We'll be watching."

"Good luck, Chris," Trish smiled at him.

"Thanks," he nodded before he disappeared into the locker room, leaving Stephanie and Trish alone.

"Come on, let's get out of here before guys get ideas," Stephanie grabbed Trish's hand and started going back towards the entrance, presumably to find a way into the main part of the small arena. It was more like a big gym, but Trish didn't want to say anything bad about the venue.

"Ideas?"

"They'll think we're ring rats," Stephanie said, and off Trish's confused looks, "girls who just want to sleep with wrestlers, you know, like groupies. They go to the big shows, the WWF and WCW shows, but they know the easiest targets are the guys in the indies, lesser known guys, working their way up. Some of them just want a one night stand, but then you have your leeches who try to get all your money once you make it big, hopefully."

"Wow, I never knew about that," Trish frowned, "do you worry about ring rats?"

"With Chris, no way," Stephanie shook her head, "Chris isn't that type of guy, not at all. He's a good one. Jay is a good one too, I know because of how he talks about you. But sometimes people can mistake you for one, but you and Jay are already married, you'll be fine."

"I can't believe people are that shallow."

"The wrestling business is really…complicated sometimes," Stephanie told her, "I'm not going to lie to you or sugarcoat it for you. It can be really gritty, and it can be really hard. It's going to take commitment on your part. Chris has traveled the world, I've had to go long stretches of time without seeing him—"

"And isn't it terribly hard?"

"Of course, but this is his dream, and I want it for him. He's stubborn and won't get steady work with the WWF, even though an offer has been on the table for a year now, but it's only a matter of time before he gives in."

"Now that and WCW are the big companies, right?"

"Yeah," Stephanie said, "they are, although WWF is better by far."

"Then that's where I want Jay to be."

"He'll get there," Stephanie said, and she knew he would, not just because of her influence, but because Jay was talented. "It's good, steady work, you know the schedule, and the money is way better over there."

"So why won't Chris go over there now, if he has an offer?"

"Like I said, he's stubborn. He has this notion that he has to learn every style of wrestling there is before he's even ready," Stephanie rolled her eyes as they took some seats in the front row. There was pretty much nobody else there right now so they had their choice of seats.

"Do the WWF and WCW shows…are they…as small as this seems to be?" she asked delicately.

"No, not at all, it's bigger venues," Stephanie explained. "Their crowds are a lot bigger too. That's not to say this isn't good at all. These shows get good turnouts for what they are. And the fans are always passionate. I usually tape these matches for Chris, but since you're here, and I know you're going to have questions, I'm not going to film it tonight."

"You film it?"

"Yeah, so he can watch his matches later, critique himself, you know, see what he did well, what he can improve on, plus, it gives him material to send out to other promotions who might want to book him."

"Wow, so I should probably do that for Jay then, right?"

"If you want, it's a big help if they can see your body of work. Chris gets booked a lot that way, he's really good," Stephanie tried to hold in her grin.

"Stephanie, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"How did you get into this?" Trish asked. "I'm not saying that you can't be a fan because you're a girl or anything, but how did you get so invested in it? Jay mentioned that you were a longtime fan, and _you_ met Chris at a show, so you obviously were a fan before you were with him, and you don't strike me as this ring rat type person, so how did you get into it?"

Stephanie looked away for a moment, "Do you think you can keep a secret?"

"Yeah, of course," Trish nodded, "I mean, is it bad?"

"No, no, it's not bad," Stephanie said, "it's just…I don't really like people to know, not the people around Chris."

"Okay," Trish told her, "I won't tell anyone."

"Okay," Stephanie turned back to her, "my name is Stephanie McMahon. My father is Vince McMahon CEO and President of the WWF. My grandfather owned it before my dad. I've grown up in the wrestling business, it's all I know. When I graduate from college, I'll be working for the WWF. That's why Chris has the open offer, that's why he's so stubborn about going there. Chris and I are going to get married at some point, it's pretty much on the table as it is, and he doesn't want to take things handed to him."

"Wow," Trish said, "so…wow. You know because you know everything."

"Not everything, but I know a lot," Stephanie shrugged, "I knew Chris had potential the day I saw him. I was catching a show because I wanted to check out some of the young talent, see what was out there. My dad would never let me be a scout, but it doesn't hurt to have some anyways. I saw Chris, and I just knew he was something special, I had to know him. So I introduced myself to him after the show."

"Wow."

"Trish, I can assure you, once Jay gets more experience, my father will hire him. He likes him, and I would consider it a personal favor."

"Thank you, Stephanie," Trish told her. "You have no idea how grateful I am for that."

"He's good, Trish, you just need to see him grow."

"I want to, I want to be with him every step of the way."


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating, got major writer's block for this story, but trying to get back on track, hope you enjoy! :)

* * *

"I feel like my apartment has been overrun by women."

"Aww, baby, it's because it has been, well, just two, and a little girl," Stephanie said, smiling down at Sofia. "Your daughter is adorable, Trish, seriously, the cutest thing I've ever seen, and I'm not usually a fan of kids."

"Thanks," Trish laughed, rubbing Sofia's head a little bit. "Ever since I started watching the tapes you've sent me, I think she's become obsessed with it. She thinks it's so amazing that her daddy gets to do that kind of thing."

"Hey, Sophie, I bet your dad is going to be a champion someday," Stephanie told the little girl, her eyes widening to display her excitement.

"I think so!" Sofia nodded her head eagerly. "I likes wrestling!"

"Me too," Stephanie said.

"It's really interesting," Trish said, "I mean, I can see why he likes it so much, it looks like it's a lot of fun. I should have never just given up on him like I did, I really regret it now."

"You just didn't know," Stephanie said, as Chris came over with some chips and dip and some carrot sticks for Sofia. Stephanie grinned up at him gratefully and he leaned down and gave her a kiss quickly.

"I guess I'll leave you three to it," Chris told them, ruffling Stephanie's hair a little bit.

"You don't have to go," Stephanie said, looking up at Chris. "You can stay and watch with us. You like wrestling too, right?"

"Yeah, but I'll be fine, I'm just going out with some of the guys, I shouldn't be too late or anything," Chris nodded. "So you don't have to worry about a ride home, Trish, I've got you covered."

"Be safe, alright, I need you to come back in one piece," Stephanie told him, throwing a pointing finger. He nodded, leaning down to kiss her again then he was out the door and gone. Stephanie turned to Trish and saw she was smiling at her, "What?"

"Nothing, I just remember being like that."

"Like what?"

"Just together and in love and nothing is ever going to come between you," Trish said wistfully.

"Trish, I'm older than you, don't make yourself into an old woman," Stephanie said, "and look at you, you're working on it with him, and you're going to be fine. I think that getting to know what he does, getting to see what kind of thing he's doing is only going to benefit you in the long run."

"You really think so?"

"Yes, I mean, look at it this way, you're giving it a shot, right? That's more than he could have ever asked for. You're doing it for him because you love him, and that's really amazing. I'm not going to lie and say it's not hard being a wrestler's girlfriend or wife, but if they're doing what they love, and they're happy, you kind of have to compromise."

"What's the longest Chris has been away from you?" Trish asked.

"A month and a half."

"Wow, that's a long time, how did you do it? I just, not seeing him right now is kind of already killing me, and it hasn't even been that long, I can't imagine having to go that long without seeing him. Is that what it'll be like?"

"Until he works his way up, but I figure my dad will probably want him to get a little bit more well-rounded before he hired him. That's pretty much what Chris is doing. The month and a half was when he was in Europe. It was difficult and a challenge, but we made it. If your relationship is strong enough, you can make it."

"What about when he gets hired to your father's company? Is it going to be like that?"

"No, it won't. We have our one televised show on Monday nights, Raw, then we have Pay Per Views, and in between those, we do live events, but there are a few days off every week, so you'd have to go without him for about half a week."

"What if…do you travel or do any other wives or girlfriends travel?"

"Yeah, they do, there are, it's a lot of traveling though," Stephanie warned her. "I just don't want you to think that it's easy, it's really not. I won't be traveling with the company at first for a lot of reasons. Chris and I will probably be married or at least engaged, and he'll be moving to Connecticut because I'll be working out of our main offices, so I'll probably want to stay there and not travel just yet."

"Do you ever or have you ever seen yourself wrestling?" Trish asked. "I mean, that's a thing, right, women's wrestling, we've seen some, so it's definitely a thing."

"Yeah, although women have to work twice as hard, and my dad kind of likes women to be eye candy as well as have some wrestling skills, at least for the most part," Stephanie explained. "Nowadays, the women are getting more prominent. I thought I wanted to be one when I was younger, but as I grew up, I realized I like the behind the scenes stuff more, although my dad says that there may be a spot for me someday on the shows, who knows. Eventually, I'd like to work with creative, which comes up with storylines, and in that case, I'll travel with Chris."

"You have your life figured out, don't you?"

"No," Stephanie said, "sometimes I really don't. I know what I'm doing, and I know where I'm going, but the journey there is still scary. I mean, Chris and I have discussed marriage ad nauseum, but that doesn't mean we're going to make it and that terrifies me. Both sets of my grandparents were married for a million years. My parents have been married forever, and my brother has been with his wife since they were teenagers. Sometimes I feel like there's a lot of pressure on Chris and I to be just like them."

"Steph, do you know how hard it is being the couple who gets pregnant in high school so they get married?" Trish said, stroking Sofia's hair as the little girl rested in between Stephanie and Trish. All this talk had rendered her asleep, but that's what happened when she missed her nap. "Everyone judges you, everyone looks at you like you made the biggest mistake in the world. I feel sometimes like I never had anything figured out."

"Do you regret marrying Christian?" Stephanie asked.

"There have been times where I wish it hadn't gone this way," Trish admitted. It was hard to admit that, but it was the truth. She was a teenage mother who had a shotgun wedding so her daughter wouldn't be a bastard. "I'm not living the dream. You always think that you'll have the best of everything, and I wouldn't trade Sophie for anything, but I just wish it had gone differently."

"But you're here, and you're happy, right?" Stephanie said.

"I'm getting there," Trish nodded, "I just needed to see this world, I guess. Plus, my family has never liked him, probably because we were so in love with each other, my parents would mockingly call him Romeo, I guess our love was just too much for them, and you know, that's why I'm back in the apartment, I just couldn't take the criticism anymore."

"My parents have always been hard on me, comparing me to my brother, you learn to take it in stride," Stephanie said, "and Christian is doing what he thinks is best for you, and he's making money right this second, and when my father hires him, the money is good. You'll have stable income, and things will be good."

"I hope so," Trish said, "thanks for being here for me. I wouldn't know what to do otherwise."

"I'm glad to help, I like Christian, and I like you, and although I've never seen you guys interact, you seem like you're good together, despite the circumstances. Do you think you would have ended up with him if you didn't have Sophie?"

Trish thought about that, actually, she thought about that a lot. She always wondered if she and Christian were just destined to be together. Was there always this driving for between them that would have brought them together? The only thing that she wondered about was if they ever would have broken up in high school after going to college. Would they have stuck together when there were new horizons out there and no obligations surrounding them? Christian was the only man she'd ever loved, and he was the only man she could ever picture loving.

"Yeah, I do," she smiled before laughing at herself for sounding so sappy. "I just…there's no other person I can picture myself being with. My parents have tried, during this separation, to get me to go out on dates, and I've gone out on a couple, and they were just…not him. I feel like if I'm ever really not with him, I'm going to compare every man to him, and none will be him, and that, to me, means he's it."

"I know how you feel," Stephanie said, "I mean, I've dated other guys, but I knew pretty soon after I met Chris that he was the one. He just…caught me in a different way then other guys, and he gets me in a way nobody else does, and I love him all the more for that."

"Did your dad like not want you to date a wrestler?"

"He was wary of it for sure. He didn't want me to get my heart broken because a lot of bad guys are in the business, but he came around, and he really likes Chris, and it's just a be cautious type thing, but Christian loves you, I wouldn't worry about him."

"He is good-looking though…"

"You want to go with him, don't you?"

"It's just a thought, I can defer school for a while. My mom actually has some photo shoots set up for me, I used to model a little when I was younger, if that picks up, I don't know, I'd have some extra money, Sophie and I could maybe go with him sometimes or visit him, I don't know, it's just a thought, it was nothing solid."

"You have to carve your own life out of this," Stephanie advised her. "Wrestling is a weird, wonderful business, and everyone has their own thing and you just have to figure that out. Christian is going to be so surprised when he comes home and finds out you're practically an expert."

"I think he'll faint from the shock of it all," Trish laughed, waking up Sofia. She picked up the girl and let her rest her head on Trish's shoulder as Trish rubbed her back. "He's going to be doubly surprised at how much this one is into it now too."

Stephanie reached out to rub Sofia's back a little bit, "She's where I was when I was little. I grew up around wrestlers and look at me, I'm not totally crazy."

"Well, you do put up with dating a wrestler, and you're going to consciously marry him," Trish giggled. It was nice to have a friend like Stephanie. After high school, a lot of her friends moved away, some even went to the United States for university, and she was still here. Others had abandoned her when she got pregnant with Sofia. Stephanie was probably her first adult friend, and it was nice to have someone who could support her.

"So let's order some pizza and get watching these wrestling tapes," Stephanie said, "you still have a lot to learn, and you want to impress him, right?"

"Yeah, I definitely want to impress him," Trish nodded.

"He's so going to want to do you when he sees how much you've learned. He's going to think it's so hot you'll be begging me to take Sophie off your hands if I'm here."

"Oh my God!" Trish covered her face with her hand as Stephanie squeezed her shoulder. "I don't want to think about that!"

"Oh, believe me, you do, and he's going to as well," Stephanie stood up, "Now what do you like on your pizza?"

Trish knew she was in good hands.


End file.
